16-year-old girl, gang-raped and stabbed to death in Delhi; four teenagers held

Four teenagers have been apprehended for allegedly gang-raping and murdering a 16-year-old girl whose body was found with multiple stab wounds in an open field in north Delhi’s Swaroop Nagar, police said on Thursday. One of the accused, identified as 19-year-old Shivam Ganesh, was arrested, while three minors aged 16 and 17 were taken into custody. Police also recovered two knives allegedly used in the crime and clothes purportedly worn by the suspects.

Girl knew suspect

According to police, the girl, a school dropout who was living on her own and looking for work to support her family, knew one of the accused, a 17-year-old boy, and had gone to meet him on the evening of September 10. Investigators alleged that the boy sexually assaulted her and, when she threatened to report him, called his friends, who also allegedly raped her. Police said the suspects were under the influence of alcohol at the time and their blood samples have been collected as part of the investigation.

The suspects allegedly took the girl to an open field near Kushak Road early on September 11 and stabbed her multiple times before attempting to conceal her body beneath leaves and mud. They then allegedly fled in a tempo. Her decomposing body was discovered in the field on September 13. Police said the body had around six to eight stab wounds.

CCTV trail cracks case

Police registered a case of murder, rape and causing disappearance of evidence on the basis of the preliminary investigation and autopsy findings. With few immediate clues about the victim’s movements, investigators began examining CCTV footage from the surrounding areas. More than 50 cameras were scanned before police spotted a tempo moving near the field around the suspected time of the crime.

Although the vehicle’s registration number was not clearly visible because of darkness, investigators mapped its movement across multiple CCTV cameras and eventually identified it. Police traced the driver, who told investigators that his 17-year-old younger brother frequently used the vehicle. Further examination of footage allegedly showed four youths inside the tempo, but the suspects had left their homes by the time police identified them.

Four apprehended

A night-long search operation during the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday led investigators to trace the tempo to Khadda Colony in Swaroop Nagar. Questioning its driver and following subsequent leads resulted in the apprehension of all four suspects, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer North) Shobhit Saksena said investigators were working to establish the complete sequence of events and determine the individual role of each suspect. Forensic and technical evidence is being examined, while police are also checking whether any other person was involved. The seized knives, clothing and other exhibits have been preserved for forensic examination.