Delhi woman dragged by car, killed: Amid growing anger, family seeks justice

Delhi has yet again witnessed a horrific crime against a woman. A 20-year-old was dragged by a car for several kilometres, reportedly by drunk men and all five accused have been sent to police custody.

Protests have erupted in parts of the national capital over the incident in north west Delhi’s Sultanpuri area amid allegations that she may have been sexually assaulted before she died. While the sexual assault is yet to be confirmed, the woman’s family has been seeking justice. “Police have said that if rape is proven in post-mortem report, then rape charges will be invoked against the accused. I appeal for justice for my daughter,” her mother was quoted as saying by news agency ANI amid demonstrations.

At a press briefing, Special Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Sagar Preet Hooda said a medical board has been constituted to conduct the post-mortem. Based on the post-mortem report, fresh charges could be added against the five accused arrested in connection with the case, he underlined. Presently, the charges against the five accused include – culpable homicide not amounting to murder, causing death by negligence and criminal conspiracy. The National Commission for Women (NCW) and Delhi Women’s Commission have expressed concern over the incident and sought more details from cops.

“I have some questions for Delhi Police. Was the woman sexually harassed by the accused? Was she killed like this after she protested over the harassment? For how many kilometres was she dragged by the car? Was there no checkpost or OCR van deployed on the stretch that she (was) dragged on?” DCW’s Swati Maliwal tweeted as details emerged.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had called it the “rarest of rare crime” as he said that the accused should be hanged. He also spoke to Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena over the matter. “Spoke to Hon’ble LG on Kanjhawala incident. Requested him to take exemplary action against culprits, strictest sections of IPC shud be slapped against them. No leniency should be shown even if they have high political connections. He assured that he will take strong action,” Kejriwal tweeted.

Meanwhile, as his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) alleges BJP link to the murder, members of the party gathered outside L-G’s residence to protest.

Around 200 AAP leaders and workers, including MLAs Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Durgesh Pathak, gathered outside Raj Niwas at Civil Lines and raised slogans seeking answers over the incident and demanding the L-G’s resignation, news agency PTI reported.