Delhi mishap victim shouldered burden of 7-member family after father's death

The 20-year-old woman who was dragged under a car for kilometres was the sole bread-earner of her family and supported an ailing mother and six siblings.

After her father died last year, she supported her family and paid for her mother's dialysis by working part-time at an event management company, which also meant that she had to work late nights.

One of her sisters is married. She was the only support to her two other sisters and two brothers who lived with her.

Like every day, on Sunday too, she left her home for work in the evening telling her mother she would be back by 2-3 am. But what happened in the meantime scarred her family forever.

The young woman's work involved attending weddings and other events and she had been out for one such event on Sunday.

"She used to work at an event management company and told me she was going to an event and would return late. I was waiting for her," her mother said.

The last conversation she had with her daughter was at 9 pm, she recalled. "My daughter had promised she would be home soon."

"I even called her at 10.30 am but her number was unreachable and after that it was unreachable.

"In the morning, we got a call from the police saying that my daughter's two-wheeler had met with an accident. They asked me to come over but I told them that I am unwell and won't be able to come," she said.

A vehicle was sent to her house in the morning which brought her to Sultanpuri Police Station, where she kept asking for her daughter but got no satisfactory response.

"I kept asking for my daughter, and saying, 'At least let me see her. How she was hurt, how much was hurt.' But my pleas fell on deaf ears," she said.

On Monday as the news hit the headlines, local residents protested outside the Sultanpuri Police Station demanding justice for the victim.

The woman's mother accused the police of not doing enough, who, she said, were "just trying to make it look like an accident."

Five men travelling in the Maruti Baleno were arrested in the wake of the incident, with Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora saying that the force is with the family in its grief.

As the day progressed, a video, reportedly of the woman, without clothes and her legs broken, did rounds on social media.

Her uncle said they were not allowed to even see her body.

An aunt of hers said, "Police called us and informed us that our girl had met with an accident. We want death for all who are responsible for her death. They did enormous damage to her family and must be punished."

Sources said that Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena has asked officers to see if any member of the victim's family could be provided with a government job in way of compensation.