Cops question Noida girl’s allegations of gangrape in moving car

The 17-year-old girl who had claimed that she was gang-raped by a classmate, a distant relative and a yet-to-be-identified accomplice, may have raised the allegations under pressure from her family, police said.

On April 18, the girl had alleged that she had been raped by the three while returning home from school. According to her initial statement, the three had offered her a lift in their car, on the pretext of dropping her home, and then raped her in the moving car.

According to Superintendent of police (rural), Suniti, the police are probing the angle of a family feud between the girl’s family and that of her distant relative, who lives in Palwal.

“We have come to know through our investigation that there might be some tension between the families. This could be the reason why the girl raised allegations of a gang rape,” Suniti said.

The medical reports of the girl did not show any signs of rape, the police said. “We have also not been able to trace or identify the vehicle in which the girl claims that she was raped. We also have no information about the third unidentified accomplice,” the SP said.

The police also said the alibi given by the girl’s classmate is very strong. “According to the boy’s statement, the girl had first borrowed his phone to make a phone call and had then asked him for a lift to a roadside tea stall from where she made another call to her distant relative,” Suniti said, adding that call records further support her classmates version.

Police are now trying to get in touch with the distant relative of the girl. “Once we question him, we will be able to verify the authenticity of the girl’s claims,” the SP said.

The police said initially, the family had registered a case of kidnapping when the girl had failed to return home till late evening. But, once she returned, the girl alleged that she had been raped. Police suspect that the girl did so under pressure from her family members.

They further said the girl kept changing her statement during questioning and was completely different from the brief statement she had given ahead of her medical test.

“If Naveen’s alibi also holds out, and it turns out that the girl’s allegations are false, we will dismiss the case,” Suniti said.