Disclosure statements of accused reveal 9-year-old was raped: Delhi Police to court

Investigating officer however added that "neither any statement of any eye­witness nor any other evidence, including medical or scientific, could be collected so far to confirm as to whether the victim child was raped or not"

The investigating officer probing the mysterious death of a nine-year-old Dalit girl at a Delhi crematorium has told the court that “disclosure statements of the four accused persons have revealed that accused Radhey Shyam and Kuldeep Singh raped and killed the minor and that the remaining two accused persons, Salim Ahmad and Laxmi Narayan, helped them in trying to cremate the deceased minor child”.

However, the IO added that “neither any statement of any eye­witness nor any other evidence, including medical or scientific, could be collected so far to confirm as to whether the victim child was raped or not”. He further submitted that at this stage, “he cannot conclusively say as to whether the victim child was raped or not”.

The submission was made by the IO while answering the court’s queries on the matter of granting interim compensation to the girl’s family.
Additional Sessions Judge Ashutosh Kumar awarded interim compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh to the girl’s mother, in an application moved by the family through legal aid counsel Piyush Sachdeva. On the question of interim compensation on the additional ground of the alleged rape of the victim, the court said that “in view of the submissions of the IO and in view of the fact that the investigating agency itself is not sure as to whether the victim was raped or not, the interim compensation qua the same is not allowed at this stage”.

On August 2, the girl had gone to have cold water from the crematorium’s water cooler, and her family was later informed she had been electrocuted. The family however alleged she was raped and forcibly cremated by the accused, and that her charred remains were taken off the pyre as locals gathered.

Shyam (55), a priest at the cremation ground, and three others — Singh (63), Narain (48) and Ahmed (49) — were arrested.

The application filed under section 375A (1) CrPC provides that every State Government in co­ordination with the Central Government shall prepare a scheme for providing funds for the purpose of compensation to the victim or dependents who have suffered loss or injury as a result of a crime and who require rehabilitation.

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