A nine-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly gang-raped, murdered and then cremated by her attackers in South West Delhi on Sunday evening. All that was left of her for the forensic team 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 sections pertaining to rape, murder and threatening charges, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the SC/ST Act. They were sent to jail. Though the accused have maintained that the girl died of electrocution while fetching water from an electric cooler, the family has alleged that the suspects hurriedly cremated the body after frightening the family off from informing the police about her death.
At the protest, the girl’s mother alleged that the accused locked her inside the crematorium and cremated her daughter’s body without her consent. “They offered me money, asked me to return home and not tell anyone what happened,” she said.
"When I went there he informed me that my daughter was dead. I asked how she died. I told them to dial '100' and call the police. He refused," said the mother.
"He pressured me to cremate the body immediately and dissuaded me from calling the cops. He said if you call the cops there will be a long court case, my daughter would be taken to the hospital where the police and doctors would take out her organs and sell them. He said he would perform the cremation himself as I couldn't afford it."
She says at around 7.30 pm, the priest and his staff had started her daughter's cremation. The family was forced to sit at a distance by the staff and asked to return the next morning for the child's ashes.
“She was lying lifeless,” recounted the mother, her voice breaking. “There were bruises on her body, her face was pale and her clothes were wet.”
"My daughter has been raped. They made us sit aside, asking us to stay away as the flames were intense. He said, 'go home and sleep. Don't shout and cry about it'. I was threatened."
The girl’s father said 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 cremated her body to hide their gruesome crime. We want them to be hanged till death for what they did to our daughter. Till then, we will continue our protest to demand justice for my daughter.”
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At Tuesday’s protest, DCP Singh said, “Strict action will be taken against the officers who harassed the family.”
The suspects have been identified as Radhey Shyam, the priest of the crematorium, and three employees Salim, 55, Laxmi Narayan,49, and Kuldeep,63.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and senior leader of the opposition Congress Party Rahul Gandhi visited the child's family and offered to help them get justice.