Kanjhawala Incident: Kejriwal Announces 10 Lakh Compensation for Kin of Victim

"It is a rarest of rare crime. I have learnt that the postmortem is underway," Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said.

(Trigger warning: Descriptions of graphic nature.)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday, 3 January, described the death of a woman, who was dragged for four kilometres by a car, as the "rarest of rare" crimes and called for the strictest punishment for the accused.

"I don't know where we are heading as society. It is a rarest of rare crime. I have learnt that the postmortem is underway [sic]," he told reporters.

Spoke to Hon’ble LG on Kanjhawala incident. Requested him to take exemplary action against culprits, strictest sections of IPC shud be slapped against them. No leniency shud be showed even if they have high political connections.

He assured that he will take strong action

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 2, 2023

In his latest tweet on 3 January, Kejriwal announced that compensation of Rs 10 lakhs will be given to the family of the deceased woman.

पीड़िता की माँ से बात हुई।

बेटी को न्याय दिलवायेंगे। बड़े से बड़ा वकील खड़ा करेंगे।

उनकी माँ बीमार रहती हैं। उनका पूरा इलाज करवायेंगे।

पीड़िता के परिवार को दस लाख रुपये का मुआवज़ा देंगे

सरकार पीड़िता के परिवार के साथ है। भविष्य में भी कोई ज़रूरत हुई तो हम पूरा करेंगे

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) January 3, 2023

A woman, 19-year-old Anjali Singh, in Delhi lost her life after being hit by a car in the early hours of Sunday, 1 January. Her body was allegedly dragged for a few kilometres after being hit. All five occupants of the car – Manoj Mittal, Deepak Khanna, Amit Khanna, Krishan and Mithun – have since been arrested and sent to three days of police remand.

'My Head Hangs in Shame': Delhi L-G 

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, too, expressed shock at the "monstrous insensitivity" of the alleged perpetrators.

"My head hangs in shame over the inhuman crime in Kanjhawla-Sultanpuri today morning and I am shocked at the monstrous insensitivity of the perpetrators. Have been monitoring with @CPDelhi and the accused have been apprehended. All aspects are being thoroughly looked into," he tweeted.

Even as every possible support/help and beyond, to the family of the victim will be ensured, I appeal to all to not resort to opportunistic scavenging. Let's together work towards a more responsible and sensitive society.

— LG Delhi (@LtGovDelhi) January 1, 2023

What Happened?

As per DCP (Outer Delhi) Harendra Singh, the Kanjhawala police station (Rohini district) received a call about the incident at 3.24 am by a person who had spotted the body being dragged by a Baleno car. DCP Singh added: 

"At about 4.11 am, a PCR call was again received at Kanjhawala police station which said that the body of a girl was lying on the road. In the area of PS Sultanpuri, SHO during night patrolling had already noticed a scooty in accidental condition and this information was lodged in the PS at 3.53am. With the scooty number further investigation was conducted and it revealed to be belonging to the victim who had been found lying on the road in the area of PS Kanjhawala."

An FIR has been filed under Sections 279 (Driving or riding on a public way so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life), 304A (Causing death by negligence), and 304 (Punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The victim was working part-time in wedding events and was returning home from one such function when the incident took place.