Police had said the motive appears to be personal enmity. (Representational) Fearing that his family could be attacked anytime, the husband of a young woman, who was allegedly gangraped by her neighbours and paraded on the streets in Delhi’s Shahdara district, said they had moved to a new house two months ago and were “living in secret”.
Such was the fear of the accused, he said, that his parents asked him and his wife to leave home and shift elsewhere. “Even my family couldn’t stand by us and asked us to leave. What they did to my wife has scarred us for life,” the woman’s husband told The Indian Express on Friday.
On Wednesday, some of the accused barged into the woman’s house and abducted her. Following the assault, they chopped her hair and forced her to wear a garland of slippers around her neck. “I was at work when I got a call from my neighbour that my wife was taken away by some women from our house. I immediately called the police control room,” said the husband, who works in housekeeping at a hotel.
Police had said the motive appears to be personal enmity. “We have been told that one of the family members of the accused, aged around 15 or 16, was stalking the woman and had also proposed to her, which she rejected. On November 12 last year, he left home and allegedly committed suicide by jumping in front of a train. The family blamed the woman and wanted revenge,” an officer had said.
Narrating the sequence of events, the husband said there was no flour at home and shops were shut on account of Republic Day: “My wife asked her sister to bring her some flour. The accused followed her to our home and abducted my wife. She is traumatised…”
The victim’s younger sister also alleged she was being harassed by the accused and had filed a police complaint a week before the incident, but no action was taken.
The Indian Express accessed her complaint, in which she alleged: “I was attacked and beaten up on January19… We had an autorickshaw that they burnt down. I used to work at a shop… but (they) broke in and didn’t let me work. When I stay at home, their women come and thrash me. When I step out, they… harass me. I am alone… sir, help me. These people say that they aren’t scared of the police… (They) don’t let me work or earn any money. How am I supposed to run my house? I am in danger… They threaten me… izzat ki jaan ki…”
She also alleged that their aunt who came to visit them was also harassed and thrashed by the accused.
A senior police officer said, “We received a PCR call from a family member alleging that their aunt was harassed. We went to the spot, spoke to both parties, and the matter was resolved. We have seen the woman’s complaint and are looking into it.”
Meanwhile, the husband has been staying at friend’s flat for the past two days and has dropped off their toddler with a relative. “My wife and I were being harassed by the accused for a year. After a point, my family members refused to stand by us. We had filed several police complaints, but they (the accused) also filed fake cross complaints. Police asked us to compromise and told us to call if further problems arise. Finally, I moved to a rented accommodation with my wife and child two months ago without informing anyone… We lived there in secret. My salary is Rs 15,000, and I was paying a rent of Rs 4,500,” he said.
On the family’s allegations, R Sathiyasundaram, DCP (Shahdara), said, “As of now, we are arresting the accused. We will conduct an enquiry to find out the status of their complaints.”
Police on Friday said they have arrested two more people, a man aged 37 and a woman aged 40, in connection with the case. “A total of 11 people have been nabbed, including eight women and two minors. Two other accused are on the run,” a senior police officer said.
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