How Delhi Police Cracked Gangrape Of Odisha Researcher; Cop In Guise Of Social Worker, Footage Of 700 CCTVs

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: After over 20 days of investigation and analysing more than 700 CCTV cameras, Delhi Police arrested three persons over the last week in connection with the alleged gang rape of a researcher and social worker from Odisha on October 10 in the national capital.

The accused have been identified as Prabhu Mahto, Parmod alias Babu and Mohammad Shamsul.

The three raped the woman first at a secluded place and then in an autorickshaw and eventually left her bleeding on the road in Sarai Kale Khan area last month. “It was a case with no initial leads as not only the details of the accused but also the exact time and place of the incident was unknown and the victim could not support the investigation due to her mental illness,”Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) Ravi Kumar Singh told the PTI.

A passerby had made a PCR call at 3.15 am on October 11 about a woman, wearing a red kurta and bleeding near Sarai Kale Khan. She was immediately taken AIIMS Trauma Centre for medical examination. “Upon arrival at the hospital, the victim disclosed to the attending doctor that she had been sexually assaulted by three people,” the DCP said.

The woman, however, was not able to share vital clues about the perpetrators, or the time and area of the incident, due to her mental condition. A woman police officer posing as a social worker, with the help of a native Odia speaker, then gained her trust over time and gathered crucial information about involvement of an autorickshaw driver and two other persons, one of whom had a physical handicap.

The Delhi Police scanned footage of over 700 CCTVs on major and minor roads, starting from Sarai Kale Khan, where the woman was rescued, to the Old Delhi railway station. The first breakthrough came when the police found CCTV footage showing the woman exiting the Old Delhi railway station waiting hall at 10.14 am on October 10. Over 150 autorickshaws were then identified and the conduct of the drivers and others analysed, leading to the arrest of Prabhu Mahto on October 30.

Subsequently, Pramod Babu and Mohammad Shamsul were also identified and arrested on November 2 and November 4, respectively. “During interrogation, Pramod Babu, an alcoholic, revealed that he noticed the woman while drinking after closing his shop. After a while, Mohammad Shamsul, a beggar and alcoholic who is also physically disabled, arrived at the spot. The two men dragged her to an isolated area and sexually assaulted her. The autorickshaw driver, Prabhu Mahto, who was a witness to the incident, forced the victim into the auto and sexually assaulted her as well. They then dumped her near Sarai Kale Khan and fled,” the DCP added.

Police said the woman has a postgraduate degree in social work from Utkal University of Culture, Bhubaneswar, and is a research fellow, facilitator, and community leader with over eight years of experience in the social sector. “She also worked as a Research Fellow at Kalinga Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS, Community Leader at Women Power for Sanitation Awareness, and Counsellor at One Stop Centre in Puri,” Singh said.

She had travelled to Delhi on May 9 without informing her family, which filed a missing person’s report at Kumbharpada police station in Puri on June 9. She was living with an acquaintance in Delhi.

According to police, she subsequently began exhibiting “abnormal behaviour”. The acquaintance reported this to Kishangarh police station staff, who contacted the woman’s family in Odisha. She, however, refused to return to Odisha, also moved out of the acquaintance’s house and had since been living at bus stops, railway stations, and foot over bridges.

(With inputs from The Print)