A 25-year-old man and three more women (aged 36, 32, and 21 years) were, on Wednesday, 2 February, arrested in connection with the abduction, gang-rape, and torture of a 20-year-old woman in Delhi.
This comes a day after two accused – 38-year-old and 36-year-old women – were, on Tuesday, remanded to police custody for further interrogation.
A total of 16 people have been apprehended in connection with the case so far.
Delhi's Shahdara Police has also registered three more First Information Reports (FIRs) in connection with the incident, after it was discovered on Monday that some social media accounts were spreading rumours that the survivor had died by suicide.
More About the Rumours
The posts also tried to paint a communal picture in an attempt to incite violence, the police said. Moreover, a YouTube channel also revealed the identity of the survivor.
The misinformation led the police to issue a clarification in the matter.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram said in a video statement, "Some people were spreading rumours and misinformation about the 21-year-old survivor and the sexual assault incident. They were sharing the identity of the survivor and also trying to give the incident a communal angle. We have identified the social media accounts and two separate cases have been registered against them for rumour-mongering."
The DCP added the two FIRs were registered under the Indian Penal Code Sections 153 (provocation with intent to cause riot), 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups), and 505 a and b (public mischief) against two Twitter handles, while "the third FIR has been registered under Section 228A IPC against one Madan Lal for disclosing the identity of the woman in his YouTube video," Hindustan Times reported.
What's the Case?
On Republic Day afternoon, a 20-year-old woman was allegedly abducted, gang-raped, beaten up, and paraded in Delhi's Shahdara colony. A video of her being paraded, surrounded by women and girls, who cheered on the humiliating act, was posted on Twitter by Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal a day later.
Consequently, the Delhi Police filed an FIR under Sections of gang-rape, kidnapping, illegal confinement, physical assault, and intimidation.
Meanwhile, a 10-member SIT under an ACP-rank officer has been formed for a speedy investigation of the crime.
Police Extend Help to Survivor's Family
After learning that her family was facing difficulty in managing their daily expenses, the Delhi Police promised the survivor's 18-year-old sister a three-month computer course under the police's Yuva scheme along with a stipend of Rs 5,000 a month till the course is over.
The DCP added that after completing the course, she would be employed as a contractual data entry operator at the Shahdara district police.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times.)
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