A nine-year-old Dalitgirl was allegedly gang-raped, murdered and then cremated by her attackers inSouth West Delhi on Sunday evening. All that was left of her for the forensicteam to collect were her legs apart from her ashes, Delhi Police said Tuesday.
The accused,including 55-year-old priest of the crematorium, were booked under sectionspertaining to rape, murder and threatening charges, Protection of Children fromSexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the SC/ST Act. They were sent to jail. Thoughthe accused have maintained that the girl died of electrocution while fetchingwater from an electric cooler, the family has alleged that the suspectshurriedly cremated the body after frightening the family off from informing thepolice about her death.
At the protest, thegirl’s mother alleged that the accused locked her inside the crematorium andcremated her daughter’s body without her consent. “They offered me money, askedme to return home and not tell anyone what happened,” she said.
"When I wentthere he informed me that my daughter was dead. I asked how she died. I toldthem to dial '100' and call the police. He refused," said the mother.
"He pressured meto cremate the body immediately and dissuaded me from calling the cops. He saidif you call the cops there will be a long court case, my daughter would betaken to the hospital where the police and doctors would take out her organsand sell them. He said he would perform the cremation himself as I couldn'tafford it."
She says at around7.30 pm, the priest and his staff had started her daughter's cremation. Thefamily was forced to sit at a distance by the staff and asked to return thenext morning for the child's ashes.
“She was lyinglifeless,” recounted the mother, her voice breaking. “There were bruises on herbody, her face was pale and her clothes were wet.”
"My daughter hasbeen raped. They made us sit aside, asking us to stay away as the flames wereintense. He said, 'go home and sleep. Don't shout and cry about it'. Iwas threatened."
The girl’s fathersaid they will continue to protest until the culprits were hanged. He said,“The priest and the other three men raped and killed my daughter and crematedher body to hide their gruesome crime. We want them to be hanged till death forwhat they did to our daughter. Till then, we will continue our protest to demandjustice for my daughter.”
At Tuesday’s protest,DCP Singh said, “Strict action will be taken against the officers who harassedthe family.”
The suspects havebeen identified as Radhey Shyam, the priest of the crematorium, and threeemployees Salim, 55, Laxmi Narayan,49, and Kuldeep,63.
Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal and senior leader of the opposition Congress Party Rahul Gandhivisited the child's family and offered to help them get justice.