A teenage girl who had dropped out of school and was looking for work to help support her family was allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered after going to meet a friend in Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar. Her body was found in an open field days later. Police have arrested one adult and apprehended three minors in connection with the case.
More than 50 CCTV cameras led police to a tempo
The group travelled in a goods-carrying tempo, according to police accounts reported by multiple publications. Investigators are still working to establish exactly what happened and the role of each person involved. Police suspect the girl was sexually assaulted before she was killed and her body was left in a field near Kushak Road in Swaroop Nagar. It was in an advanced state of decomposition, making immediate identification difficult. Police later established the girl’s identity and contacted her family. No missing-person complaint had been filed. Darkness made its registration number difficult to read, but investigators continued following the vehicle through footage from different locations. Police have registered a case under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita covering murder, rape, causing disappearance of evidence and common intention.
The body was found on September 13. Police examined footage from more than 50 cameras and noticed a tempo moving near the area around the suspected time of the crime. Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has also been invoked.
Police said the girl knew at least one of the suspects and had gone to meet him before the alleged crime. Police said her family told investigators that she sometimes stayed away from home for a few days before returning.
