Delhi: Girl dies under suspicious circumstances; parents allege she was raped, cremated without consent

A nineyearold girl died under suspicious circumstances even as her parents alleged that she was raped and forcefully cremated by a crematoriums priest in southwest Delhis Old Nangal village police said on MondayPolice said based on the statement of the victims mother rape charges have been added in the FIR Four people including the priest have been arrested they saidOnly the burnt legs of the girl were recovered from the crematorium ground and the postmortem report is awaitedHathras horror repeated in Delhi A dalit girl allegedly raped inside crematorium and cremated by a priest without consent of family Police as usual trying to do all type of hush up Are we going to be silent spectators to such horrific crimes again Nangalbrutalitymdash Bezwada Wilson BezwadaWilson August 2 2021Police received a PCR call at the Delhi Cantt police station around 1030 pm regarding rape and death of a minor girl at Old NangalThe girl lived with her parents in the village in a rented house in front of a crematorium On Sunday around 530 pm she went to get cold water from a cooler at the crematorium after informing her mother they saidAround 6 pm the crematoriums priest Radhey Shyam and twothree other people known to the girls mother called her there and showed her daughters body claiming that she got electrocuted while getting water from the coolerThere were burn marks between her left wrist and elbow and her lips were also blue a senior police officer saidThe priest and the others dissuaded her mother from making a PCR call saying police will make a case out of it and during postmortem doctors will steal the girls organs so it was better to cremate her the officer saidThe girl was cremated but later the woman with her husband raised a hue and cry that it was done without their consent A crowd of 200 villagers gathered there and a PCR call was made from the spot police saidThe PCR call was received following which a team rushed to the spot they saidldquoThe situation was brought under control The woman gave her statement and a case was registered under relevant sections The priest was taken into custody and a forensic lab team and a crime team were called to collect evidence from the scenerdquo Deputy Commissioner of Police DCP Southwest Ingit Pratap Singh saidThere is no CCTV camera near the crematorium ground to ascertain the sequence of event police said adding that locals staged protest and blocked roads in the areaA Forensic Science Laboratory FSL official said the spot where the watercooler is located has been thoroughly examined as there were reports of electrocutionWhen checked by an electrician and analysed experts prima facie a heavy flow of current was observed from the cooler the official saidThe second spot was where the victim was cremated It was examined and tooth fractured particles of her skull along with parts below the ankle were recovered These were handed over to police which will submit the samples at the lab for further examination according to the officialFSLRohini Director Deepa Verma said Our forensic experts from the Mobile Forensic Crime Scene Unit which is deployed at the Delhi Cantt police station reached the scene of crime and extended forensic support to the Delhi PolicerdquoThis new set up of six mobile forensic units has facilitated ldquous to reach crime scenes within the shortest possible time and enable proper collection of scientific evidence that ultimately proves to be critical in crime detection and successful prosecutionrdquo she saidIncharge Crime Scene Management Division of the FSL Sanjeev Gupta said ldquoExperts have collected few crucial scientific evidence from the spot which have been handed over to the investigating officer for submitting it to the Rohini laboratory for further DNA profiling and forensic identificationThe four arrested people are priest Radhey Shyam Kuldeep Laxmi Narain and Salim police said adding that they have been sent to judicial custodyThe statement of the complainant has been recorded under section 164 of the CrPC SCST Act and POCSO Act they saidThe girlrsquos mother has given her statement in front of a schedule castes and schedule tribes SCST committee and alleged that her daughter was raped police saidSections 302 murder 376 punishment for rape and 506 punishment for criminal intimidation of the India Penal Code have been added in the FIR following the motherrsquos statement they saidPolice said that only legs of the deceased were recovered and it is very difficult to ascertain whether she was raped or notThey said that the accused will be interrogatedA neighbour of the girlrsquos family said that the priest had no right to cremate her without the consent of the familyldquoWhen I came out of my house around 10 pm on Sunday I saw people gathered near the girlrsquos house I asked a woman who informed me about the incidentrdquo she saidldquoLater I got to know that the priest cremated her without her parentrsquos consent How can he do that If she was electrocuted then she should have been taken to a hospitalrdquo the neighbour saidShe also said that the girls parents were ragpickers and she was their only childAccording to a statement Delhi Women and Child Development Minister Rajendra Pal Gautam visited old Nangal to meet the victims familyldquoThis is a very shocking matter I have spoken to the DCP and DM here I asked them that the matter should be investigated in a fasttrack manner The statement of the parents should be immediately recorded without any delayrdquo he saidldquoThere should be fair and free investigation in the matter If we feel that the investigation is not carried out properly then the Delhi Government will conduct a magisterial inquiryrdquo Gautam said in the statementGautam also said ldquoWe will talk to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and provide compensation to the girls family as soon as possible and will also provide necessary legal assistance if neededrdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party 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