The cops investigating the harrowing gang-rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl, whose mutilated body had been discovered in a field in Delhi Swaroop Nagar on Sunday, September 13, said on Saturday that the chargesheet will be filed within the coming week. Two senior police officials confirmed the development on Saturday. 

The police are also likely to file an application before the relevant court in Delhi, seeking permission for three juveniles involved in the crime, to be tried as adults, owing to the severity of the crime. 

4th suspect already in custody

A 19-year-old youth, arrested alongside the accused teen trio, was sent to judicial custody on Friday. Meanwhile, the minors have been lodged at a correctional facility for boys after they were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board. 

While schools and birth records accessed by police suggest the trio are aged 16 and 17, officials said a bone ossification test may still be carried out to confirm their exact ages before the proceedings advance in the case. An investigating officer said, “We are preparing a watertight chargesheet, which we expect to submit within a week. Given that the accused are 16 and 17, and the offence falls under the heinous category, we will request that they be tried as adults.” 

Chilling sequence of events

According to police, all four accused sexually assaulted the teen girl in the early hours of September 11, stabbed her repeatedly and when she died, abandoned her body near Kushak Road. Her body was subsequently mauled by stray dogs. When it was discovered two days later, it was badly decomposed, and its right hand had been missing.

A tattoo displaying three stars, engraved on her left arm proved a key role in identifying her. Notably, her own kin had not filed a missing person complaint despite her absence since the night of September 10. 

Accused held through CCTV trail

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer-North), Shobhit D Saksena said on Thursday that the case appeared to be a blind one, but was eventually solved after the cops combed through CCTV feed from 50 cameras. They traced a goods vehicle spotted near the crime scene, and its owner led police to his 17-year-old brother. The latter confessed to the crime during interrogation and named his three accomplices, all of whom were known to the victim. 

An officer told the media that the accused claimed the victim had threatened to file a rape complaint after he refused to marry her, sparking panic. Police are now verifying this account provided by the accused and are probing whether the attack was premeditated, noting that two of the accused already possessed knives.