New Delhi: Politicians across the spectrum have condemned the brutal murder and alleged rape of a civil defence worker recently in the capital, and demanded the culprits are brought to justice.
Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi tweeted from his personal handle saying that “a civil defence staffer is brutally raped and murdered in the country’s capital and there is an utter pin drop silence by BJP controlled Delhi police! Hope both the governments won’t bury their heads in the sand like an ostrich…”
The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi tweeted about the incident and said her family “deserved to know” how and why she was killed.
The 21-year-old civil defence worker associated with the Lajpat Nagar District Magistrate’s office was found murdered on 26 August. She had stab wounds all over her body, including her private parts, her family said. Her family, residents of Sangam Vihar, has been demanding a probe for the past week. Monish Ali, a cousin, told ThePrint that the family wants a CBI probe in the matter that they would “ keep fighting and not rest until the CBI is involved”.
A missed phone call
On 26 August, the girl had gone to work as usual at the DM office. She would usually return home between 6-8 pm, her family said. On that day, when she called between 7:30 and 8:00 pm, the family missed her call and when they called her back 15 minutes later, her phone was switched off.
The family began to worry and Monish and her other brothers went to the two nearby bus stops in Sangam Vihar (Batra bus stand and Hamdard Bus Stand) and waited there till 10 pm hoping to find her. Later, her parents reached the DM office but they were not allowed inside and were told to return the next day in the morning.
Around 12-1 am, the parents spoke to a friend and colleague of their daughter who said the police had taken her for questioning because her boss, ‘Mehra Sir’, had been picked up in a case.
“‘Don’t worry she will soon come home’ is what her friend told us. So we went to sleep and decided we would go to the DM office early in the morning”, said Monish.“We were just about to leave for the DM office the next morning (27 August)when two officers from the Surajkund police station came to our house and told us to come with them.”
On reaching the police station, the SHO told them that she had been murdered. The family got to know the extent of her injuries while conducting her last rites when the body was being cleaned.
The victim’s family has alleged the involvement of Nizamuddin, a man who used to work with her and is now claiming that she was his wife, in her murder. “There is no evidence that they were married, nor did she ever tell us and we got no news from anyone else,” said Monish. He, however, feels that there is more than one person involved in the affair. “Yeh ek aadmi ka kaam nahi hai (only one person has not done this). We need a CBI probe to get to the bottom of this matter.”
In a video, the victim’s mother has made an appeal saying that her daughter is the “country’s daughter” (desh ki beti) and justice should be delivered.
The family has also additionally alleged that two of her colleagues are involved in her murder. They further said that the Sangam Vihar police station has refused to either file or accept the complaint against the two, who the family said is at present absconding.
ThePrint tried contacting Surajkund SHO Kuldeep Kumar via phone but did not receive a response at the time of publication of this report.
(Edited by Paramita Ghosh)