Dragged the girl for 4km, a hit-and-run case shocks the nation

By Republic Aeon Web Desk: Delhi has witnessed a horrific crime against women, again. The crime occurred on January 1 in Delhi, the capital of India. According to the media, the woman was an event manager and was riding her scooter from work to home when it collided with a car. The woman was dragged along 3 to 4km by the driver with three other occupants. In several CCTV cameras, the body is visible, being dragged by the car. 

What has happened so far?

The search operation for the vehicle was launched after the police received two calls on Sunday morning, 1 January; one regarding a woman being dragged by a Maruti Baleno car, and the other call was done after the woman's body was found lying on a road in north Delhi. Police arrested the accused with culpable homicide by negligence. The accused had borrowed the car from a friend to drive between 31 December and 1 January, police said. The victim's body was abandoned on the road. The accused are Deepak Khanna (26), Gramin Seva ( auto driver), Amit Khanna (25), Krishan (27), Mithun (26), and Manoj Mittal (27). No official statement has been recorded from the accused. Police have said that they will verify their version of events by use of a dummy to verify the accused men’s claim that they couldn’t hear the scream due to loud music. The car will, further be, examined by forensic experts.

What does the victim's family say?

The woman's mother questioned why the body was found naked, claiming that the woman was sexually assaulted supported by the claims of her uncle. On Monday, residents and the victim's family members protested outside the Sultanpuri police station for a thorough investigation and justice.

However, police officials didn’t confirm that the woman was sexually assaulted. The woman's body was sent for a post-mortem examination to the Maulana Azad Medical College in Delhi on Monday. Police said that after the post-mortem report, fresh charges could be added against the accused.

Politics over the death

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had called it the "rarest of rare crime" and requested that the accused should be hanged. "Spoke to Hon’ble LG on Kanjhawala incident. Requested him to take exemplary action against culprits, strictest sections of IPC should 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. On Monday, AAP party members protested demanding Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena's resignation.

"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 kilometers 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.