New Delhi: A masked man allegedly forced himself inside the house of a woman lawyer in south-east Delhi’s Jangpura area, raped her “at knife point”, and then tried to kill her, ThePrint has learnt.
The police have registered a case under sections of rape, criminal trespass and attempt to murder, and have arrested one person in connection with the case. The arrested individual has been identified as Sonu alias Bhura (23), who has a criminal record and has been involved in over a dozen cases of burglary and theft, the Delhi Police confirmed to ThePrint.
According to a police officer, Sonu was walking around Jangpura on the night of 19 May, when he spotted the woman standing in the balcony. He allegedly scaled an adjoining wall and went inside the house with an intention of committing burglary, but on finding the woman alone, he raped her and even tried to kill her.
“The woman tried to resist the bid, but she was thrashed and raped. He even tried to murder her. He is a notorious criminal. Even though he managed to escape, he was arrested soon after the incident came to the notice of the police,” the officer said.
“He left behind a series of clues that led to his arrest. During questioning he said that his motive was just to commit the burglary,” he said.
Bar council writes to LG, Delhi Police Commissioner
Two days after the incident, on 21 May, Bar Council of India chairman Manan Kumar Mishra wrote a letter to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Commissioner of Police S.N. Srivastava, urging them to hold a thorough and urgent investigation into the “heinous crime”.
Mishra wrote that it is “unfathomable and difficult to comprehend” that while the Delhi Police is manning the entire city due to the Covid-19 lockdown, there was “such a laxity in the vicinity the crime occurred”.
The letter went on to state that a case has been registered, but did not carry further details.
Also read: Stuck at home in lockdown, Delhi continues to record rape and molestation cases
According to Mishra’s letter, the woman was standing in the safe confines of the balcony of her house and watching something on her mobile phone when the masked assailant committed the crime “at the verge of a knife”. It added that that the masked man entered the house by scaling the wall.
The police, however, said the facts mentioned in the letter were not “entirely correct”.
Speaking to ThePrint, Mishra said: “I came to know about the incident through a WhatsApp group of lawyers and was requested to look into it and demand immediate arrest of the culprit. Finding it to be rather heinous, given the security during lockdown, I decided to take it up with the authorities.”
Mishra requested the LG and the Delhi Police to provide “full protection to the victim” until the “criminal” is arrested.
No fear of police
Mishra’s letter also stated that despite heavy police presence, it is apparent that there is no fear of the police in the “mind of the criminal”.
The BCI chief said it is essential “to depute anti-rape, anti-molester team round the clock in all vicinities throughout the country, be it by deputing people from within the police machinery and/or by taking aid of NGOs and volunteers”.
However, he added: “But the primary duty to protect our citizens, more so the susceptible and the vulnerable, lies on the police force.”
Mishra also offered the police the assistance of the lawyer fraternity, but insisted that the police take the lead.
Also read: Delhi crime rate drops 42% since 15 March, close to 2,000 cases registered