New Delhi: “I was crying in pain”, a 17-year-old girl told police as she recounted the ordeal she went through inside southeast Delhi’s Astha Kunj Park, where three men allegedly separated the girl from her friend, snatched their phones and took her to an isolated part of the park before raping her at knifepoint.
The survivor’s first statement to the police, accessed by PTI, forms a crucial part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged gangrape that took place the evening of September 21.
According to her statement, the girl and her 17-year-old male friend went to the park after offering prayers at Kalkaji Mandir and were sitting on a bench eating chips when the three men approached them.
“Why have you come here at this time? It is not allowed to come,” the men allegedly asked the two, before separating them and taking them towards different sides of the park.
When the frightened girl asked not to separate her and told them to talk to her mother if they wanted, one of the accused said, “Asif bhai gun nikal (Take out the gun, Asif)”.
The accused allegedly took away their mobile phones and led the girl towards an isolated stretch, where she said the men threatened her with knives.
According to her statement, Asif allegedly removed her clothes, placed her on a red bench and asked another accused, identified as Hemu, to stand guard.
“He kept a knife on my neck while raping me. I was crying; I was feeling a lot of pain,” she said, while recounting the ordeal she had to go through with Asif raping her while holding a knife to her neck.
She further alleged that Hemu then took her to another bench and sexually assaulted her while threatening her with a knife.
The third accused, identified by the survivor as Deepu, allegedly sexually assaulted her thereafter, also while holding a knife to her neck, according to the statement.
The survivor also claimed that Asif used a condom during the assault while the other two discharged on the side.
After the alleged assault, they gave her the clothes except the undergarments and told her to quickly put on her clothes. They threatened to kill her and her friend if they told anyone about the incident.
The accused allegedly returned their mobile phones and took the girl and her friend out of the park.
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The girl then told her friend what had happened, following which he called the police control room.
A PCR call was received at around 8.45 pm, according to police records, following which a police team reached the survivor and her friend near Gate No. 7 of Astha Kunj Park.
The survivor subsequently guided the forensic science team to the spot where she alleged that the assault took place. The FSL and district mobile crime team examined the area and collected biological and other evidence, including condoms found near the alleged crime spot, for forensic examination and DNA testing, officials said.
The case has since seen multiple arrests, with one of the accused, Asif, being injured in an exchange of fire with police.
The incident has also raised concerns over security arrangements at the sprawling 142-acre park, including poorly lit stretches, broken portions of the boundary wall and multiple access points that visitors and vendors say remain difficult to monitor after dark.
