Four held for kidnap, rape of three minors in Delhi

Police says accused were running human trafficking syndicate; booked under POCSO Act

Published: 12th August 2022 07:24 AM  |   Last Updated: 12th August 2022 07:24 AM   |  A+A-

Minor, rape, arrest

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By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Three schoolgirls were allegedly kidnapped and raped in Rohini a few days ago. The Delhi Police has arrested four persons, including two women in connection with the case. The four accused were allegedly planning to take the girls to Chandigarh and sell them but they somehow managed to escape on August 8 and were found by police in Karol Bagh. 

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has sought a detailed report from the Delhi Police in the matter by August 14. According to Benito Mary Jaiker, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South, a resident of Masjid Moth filed a complaint on August 6 at Defence Colony Police Station that his daughter went to school at Andrews Ganj around 7.30 am and had not returned. He said the driver of the school van who used to ferry the girl told him around 2.00 pm that his daughter had not boarded the vehicle that morning. 

When the police started the probe, it was found that the daughter of the complainant and two of her classmates were missing from school. All the victims are minors and study in a government school. During investigation, parents and classmates of all missing girls were questioned and CCTV footage of the area was checked, the DCP informed.

Meanwhile, the police received information about their presence in Karol Bagh. The three minors were traced in the locality and medically examined, which revealed that they had been sexually assaulted. 
The victims informed the police that one of the accused took them to a house in Rohini where they held them hostage and sexually assaulted them after giving them sedative-laced drinks.

The police raided the house in Rohini mentioned by the girls and arrested four persons, who were identified as Bangali Lal Sharma (45), Sandeep (36), Rukhsana (40) and Jyoti (19). The fifth accused, Prakash, who raped the girls and tried to take them to Chandigarh, managed to escape. The police said that Sharma admitted to running a human trafficking syndicate along with Rukhsana.

All the four arrested persons have been booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and various sections of the IPC. Ruksana and Jyoti have been sent to 14 days’ judicial custody while Sharma and Sandeep are being interrogated.

The DCW, however, claimed that the girls planned to go to Mumbai together. When they reached New Delhi Railway Station on August 6, they met a stranger who offered to book their tickets and took them to his room in Rohini, where they were raped. 

“The girls begged him the following day to send them to Mumbai, but he told them that he would take them to Rajasthan and arrange their marriages. The girls managed to escape and get in touch with their relatives while being taken to Kashmiri Gate,” said a DCW official. 


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