Delhi police conducts last rites of girl allegedly raped and murdered, DCW and parents cry foul

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) raised doubts on Friday over credibility of Delhi Police's probe into the death of a 13-year-old girl whose parents alleged she was raped and murdered while the police suspected it to be a case of suicide.

The mother of the deceased girl has alleged that instead of heeding to her pleas, police facilitated the cremation of the body and prevented the mother from witnessing the cremation. Police also refused to record the statements of the mother and other family members of the victim despite their repeated requests. Police dismissed the allegations and said that the girl's father had himself sought financial support for the cremation and he had given his consent for the same not only to the police but also to the priest at the cremation ground.

"The girl's mother was counselled by a group of doctors and she was taken along to the cremation ground," DCP (southwest) Surender Kumar said.

On Thursday, the girl was found dead in her home in Inderpuri and a post-mortem of the deceased was conducted on Friday. According to the mother of the deceased, it was conveyed to the parents by the police that the post mortem did not show the ocurrence of rape, the DCW said in its statement. "The mother demanded that police repeat the post-mortem but the police immediately put the body in a jeep along with the father of the victim and drove to Green Park shamshan ghat. The mother has alleged that the police did not allow her to be present in the jeep and that they took away the phone of the father of the deceased so she was unable to contact him. The mother later realised that the police jeep is going towards shamshan ghat and reached the spot and begged the police not to burn the girl. It is alleged that instead of heeding to the pleas of the aggrieved mother, the police facilitated the cremation of the dead body and prevented the mother from witnessing the cremation," said the Commission.

DCW chief Swati Maliwal, along with the DCW Rape Crisis Cell in-Charge, Neelam Narang, immediately reached the ghat and were appalled to see the condition of the mother. "It was shocking to note that not only was the ACP present on the spot but also that there was an SHO and several police officers. This generally is not the case as the duty of the police is limited to handing-over the body of the deceased to the family members after the post-mortem," the Commission said.

Upon preliminary inquiry, the Commission learnt that the Police had approached the pandit of the shamshan ghat almost 2.5 hours before, to facilitate the last rites of the deceased which the DCW thought was strange at that time as even her post-mortem had not been completed. The Commission spoke to the SDM of the area over phone who informed that he had not been intimated of the case as mandated under Section 174 of CrPC.

The Commission then brought it to the notice of the DCP-South-West district who also reached the spot with a team of police officers and informed that they had facilitated the last rites of the victim in order to prevent a "law and order situation" in Inderpuri.

"The Commission brought it to the notice of the police that the manner in which the last rites of the girl were performed reflected foul play and a very inhuman attitude on their part," the statement said.

The Chairperson also brought it to the notice of the DCP that the statements of the mother and other prominent family members of the victim had not yet been recorded despite their repeatedly requesting for the same. The DCP assured the Commission that the same will be done immediately. The Commission has instituted an inquiry into the same, the statement added.