Anjali and her friend were returning from a New Year party.
new Delhi:
Delhi’s Anjali Singh, who died after being dragged by a car for 13 km, again raised questions on the safety of women in Delhi as she was not alone when her scooter met with an accident, sources said.
In a new twist to the capital shocker that happened in the early hours of this New Year, investigators have found that 20-year-old Anjali was with her friend Nidhi when a Maruti Baleno car rammed their scooter. Sources said the friend suffered minor injuries in the accident and fled the spot. Investigators said Anjali’s leg got caught in the axle of the car and she was dragged along with the vehicle.
Police sources said they have traced the woman and her statement will be recorded as part of the probe.
The new findings come as police are drawing up a route map to gain more clarity on what happened that night. They found the two friends leaving a hotel at 1.45 am after attending a New Year party. CCTV footage showed two women walking out of the hotel, not far from the accident site. They are seen running on a two-wheeler. Here, it is Nidhi who is driving the car and Anjali is sitting behind. It is learned that Anjali later said that she wanted to drive and the two swapped places.
The accident took place in Sultanpuri in West Delhi. Five people in the car have admitted that they were drunk at the time of the accident. The accused told the police that they fled in panic, unaware that Anjali had been dragged along.
Deepak Khanna, who was driving, has told police that while they were driving, he felt “something stuck”, but others dismissed it.
The car reportedly drove for about 13 km, dragging the 20-year-old woman through the streets. When the car was taking a U-turn at Kanjhawala, one of the accused, Mithun, saw his hand under the vehicle. When the car stopped, the body got down. The accused then fled from the spot, he told the police.
Footage from several CCTV cameras installed on the streets has captured the terror of the night. One of the videos that is now going viral shows the car taking a U-turn, with the woman’s body stuck in it.
An eyewitness has told that when he saw the dead body being dragged, he shouted, but the car did not stop. He then informed the police and chased the vehicle on his two-wheeler. The police finally arrived when the body had landed and the accused had fled the spot.
Investigation has found that the first call to the police control room, apparently from the eyewitness, was made about 2 hours after Anjali left the hotel. The damaged scooter was found after half an hour and the body was found at around 4.10 am.
All the five accused have been arrested and the post mortem report of the woman is awaited. He has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, reckless driving and causing death by negligence.
While the woman’s family has alleged that she was sexually assaulted, the police have said they have not found any evidence.