Delhi Woman ‘Gang-Raped’, Then Tonsured, Paraded With Blackened Face; 4 Women Arrested

The survivor told Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal that while the three men were gang-raping her, the women present there were encouraging them.

New Delhi: A 20-year-old woman, who was was allegedly abducted and gang-raped, was tonsured, garlanded with slippers and paraded with her face blackened in Shahdara’s Kasturba Nagar area of the national capital on January 26.

Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal wrote on Twitter on the matter on Thursday.

“In Kasturba Nagar, a 20-year-old girl was gang-raped by illegal liquor sellers. They tonsured her, made her wear a garland of slippers and turned her face black before parading her in the entire area. I am issuing notice to Delhi Police. All criminal men and women should be arrested and the girl and her family should be given security,” the DCW chief tweeted.

According to NDTV, Maliwal met the survivor who informed her that she was abducted from her home and gang-raped by three men who are involved in illicit trade of liquor and drugs locally.

While the alleged gang rape was taking place, the women present there were allegedly instigating the men. Maliwal, NDTV further reported, was told that the men and women “beat her up brutally, shaved her head, blackened her face and made her walk around the neighbourhood with a garland of slippers and shoes.”

The police has so far arrested four women in the case after the video emerged on social media, the news outlet reported.

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A senior police official told NDTV: “Yesterday [January 26], we received information that some women have abducted a woman, thrashed and threatened her. We rescued the victim from the accused’s house; counselling and medical of the victim was conducted.”

The survivor’s sister told the news outlet that a man living in the neighbourhood who claimed to be in love with the woman had died by suicide in November last year. His family held the woman responsible for their son’s death.

“An unfortunate incident of sexual assault on a woman due to personal enmity happened in Shahdara district. Police have nabbed four accused and the probe is on,” the Delhi Police told India Today. It further said that a first information report for gang rape has also been lodged on the complaint of the woman, and that the case is being investigated.