New Delhi: The family of a 15-year-old Delhi girl who was allegedly raped earlier this month by the manager of a shoe factory she worked at has claimed that he forcibly made her drink “toilet cleaner” after she confided in two of her colleagues.
Sources in the Delhi Police told ThePrint that doctors who examined the minor said she had been made to consume a “corrosive substance”. The factory manager was arrested by the Delhi Police Saturday. They were informed two weeks after the alleged incident.
The girl’s father, while speaking to ThePrint, said his daughter didn’t mention anything when she returned home from work on 2 July, the day she was allegedly raped, but confided in two of her colleagues three days later. On the same day, the 31-year-old factory manager forcibly made her drink toilet cleaner, the father alleged.
The 15-year-old is currently undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). “She couldn’t talk, her mouth was burnt. She hasn’t been able to drink water or anything,” her father said, adding that his daughter could initially only communicate with him using hand gestures.
He also claimed that the accused had taken the girl to his home on 2 July claiming that his wife was unwell and needed assistance. A source in the Delhi Police had told ThePrint Saturday that the wife of the accused “held the girl” while he assaulted her that day.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Outer District, Sameer Sharma, the accused was booked under IPC sections for rape, attempt to murder, common intention and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
He had also told ThePrint earlier that a PCR call was first made in this regard to Nangloi police station Friday, and during the inquiry, police found out that the girl was admitted at AIIMS, but could not record her statement until Saturday as doctors said she was not fit to give her statement before that.
Police said the case was registered on the basis of the victim’s statement and medico legal report.
“The man has been arrested and interrogation is on. His wife will be apprehended soon,” DCP Sharma told mediapersons Sunday.
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‘She was very scared, he had threatened her’
According to the girl’s father, on 5 July, she returned home and fell unconscious, after which she was admitted in Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, and referred to AIIMS on 8 July. The girl had started working at the shoe factory for Rs 5,000 per month around 3-4 months ago after her father got dengue and their family of six needed financial assistance.
“She was very scared. Both the accused and his wife had threatened her, so she didn’t say anything on 2 July and continued to go to work. On 5 July, she confided in two of her friends at work who asked her to bring us to the factory. They also called up the accused but he didn’t turn up. While she was on her way home to get us, he intercepted her and forcibly made her drink toilet cleaner. He put it in a glass cap. She collapsed soon after she reached home, so we didn’t know what happened,” the teenager’s father told ThePrint.
The next day, he further said, his daughter’s colleagues told him that she had been sexually assaulted. “I called the accused, he kept denying but I knew he was lying. However, since my daughter hadn’t told anyone anything at home, we didn’t know for sure. We just wanted her to wake up and record a statement. She appeared a little better on Friday but couldn’t record her statement.”
“I met the accused on 6 July and told him I wouldn’t let him go but I had no proof of anything,” he said, adding that they had known the accused and his wife for more than six months.
“He used to work near our house earlier. Now he and his wife both work at the shoe factory. The man told my daughter that his wife was admitted in hospital but instead took her home. When they reached and she saw that the wife seemed alright, and confronted them, the wife held her hands and bolted the door,” he further said.
(Edited by Gitanjali Das)
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