Body dragged for 1.5 hours: Eyewitness of Delhi incident

An eyewitness of the Kanjhawala incident in Delhi where a 20-year-old girl was killed after her scooter was allegedly hit by a car and dragged for a few kilometres on Sunday, narrated the horrific ordeal.

Deepak Dahiya runs a confectionery shop on Kanjhawala Road in Ladpur village.

He said that the accused kept dragging the body of the girl which got entangled to their vehicle for 18 to 20 kilometres and it lasted for about one and a half hours.

"It was 3:20 am...I was standing outside the shop when I heard a loud noise from a vehicle about 100 meters away. Earlier I thought it was a tire burst. As soon as the car moved, I saw a body being dragged. I informed the police immediately," Dahiya said.

After some time, he said around 3:30 am, the car took a u-turn and the dead body of the woman was still stuck under the vehicle. Dahiya said the accused drove repeatedly on the road of about 4-5 kilometres by taking u-turns.

"I tried to stop them many times but they did not stop the vehicle. For about one and a half hours they carried the girl's body for about 20 km,' he said.

Dahiya said he also chased the car with his bike and was in contact with the police.

After about one and a half hours, the body fell from the car near Jyoti village on Kanjhawala Road, after which the accused fled, he said.

"It could not be just an accident," Dahiya stressed.

Harendra Kumar Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Outer Delhi said that at the time of the incident, the girl fell off the scooty and was dragged under the car for a long distance. Police apprehended the accused on the basis of the registered car number.

"The accused told police that the windows of the vehicle were closed and the music was playing on loud volume so they did not get to know...When they came to know they fled from the spot," DCP said.

A 20-year-old girl was killed after she was hit by a car and then dragged for a few kilometres on the road, being entangled in the wheels, the police informed on Sunday.

The police said that the condition of the girl after the incident was so bad, that after being dragged on, her clothes and even the back side of her body got ripped off.

Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal asked police to clarify if the woman was sexually harassed and if the accused had a criminal history.

In a series of questions she posed to the Delhi Police in connection with the incident at Kanjhawla, Maliwal also asked that "was she killed like this after she protested over the harassment?"

"I have some questions for Delhi Police -- Was the woman sexually harassed by the accused? Was she killed like this after she protested over the harassment? For how many kilometres was she dragged by the car? Was there no checkpost or OCR van deployed on the stretch that she (was) dragged on?" Maliwal asked.

"Did the accused men have previous criminal cases against them? We have issued summons to Delhi Police and want them to answer these questions. Till when will our girls be killed like this? This is a case that shames our humanity. This is a very scary incident that happened in the national capital," she said.

She also questioned police over the immediate action taken after the incident was reported to the control room and the special security arrangements that were in place in the national capital for New Year.

A PCR call was received at Kanjhwala police station on early Sunday morning that a car was noticed with a body being dragged along with it.

Another PCR call was received at 4:11 am, about the body of the girl lying on the road.

After that, the police alerted the officers deployed at pickets and a search operation for the vehicle was launched.

The body of the girl was sent to the SGM hospital, Mangolpuri, where she was declared brought dead.

The body was kept further at the mortuary of the hospital.

Meanwhile, the suspected car was also traced down and the five occupants were apprehended from their houses.