A 13-year-old left her home in south east Delhi to buy some ice cream, but never returned home.
For two months, relentless search by her father yielded no result, till one of her abductors surrendered at a city court last week. The girl, a class 8 student, had been allegedly raped during captivity and is now three weeks pregnant. She is presently with an NGO.
The girl’s father told HT that she was kidnapped by a group of 12-15 men living near his home in south east Delhi. “They worked as chefs in different restaurants. All of them fled when the police started investigating my daughter’s kidnapping,” the father alleged.
The girl’s disappearance had sent her father on a frantic search. He would reportedly use his car to drive the investigators to possible hideouts of the suspects. Unable to find his daughter despite all efforts, he finally approached the court. “The High Court demanded that my daughter be produced before it in quick time,” the father said, adding that it was court order that brought his daughter back.
A case rape of rape has been registered by the Delhi police.
The father has, meanwhile, claimed that he spent around Rs 45,000 as he accompanied Delhi Police teams tasked to trace his daughter. “The police made me pay for the expenses incurred during the search operations. I paid the money as I was desperate to find my daughter,” he said.
Romil Baniya, DCP (south-east), did not comment on the rape allegations despite repeated requests, but said that he has ordered an inquiry into the father’s allegations about being forced to spend from his pocket during the raids. “The complainant will be called and his grievances noted,” said the DCP.
