Northeast Girl Molested, Beaten up by Africans in Delhi

By Atul Krishan

New Delhi, Dec 6 : The victim, who is from Manipur, has identified two African men in police records as the perpetrators. The accused are at large

A day after Delhi police arrested the fourth accused in the gang rape case of a BPO employee in the Capital, another woman from the northeast revealed to MiD DAY that two men of African origin tried to rape her in Saket on December 1.

Pic/Atul Krishan

The victim, who is from Manipur and also works in a call centre, says the accused tried to abduct her near Select Citywalk mall in broad daylight. When she tried to raise an alarm they beat her up. However they set her free and fled the scene when the victim started shouting for help. Hearing her cries, two police personnel rushed to her rescue. 

A police source said that the Africans wanted to rape the victim and were trying to kidnap her. "They wanted to abduct the victim and were dragging her towards an isolated place. They slapped her when she tried to raise an alarm and threatened her not to make any sound. They called her a prostitute and wanted to rape her," he said.

The whole picture
The incident occurred five days ago. The victim has identified the accused from photographs in police records of foreign nationals in the city. But cops are clueless regarding their whereabouts. A senior police official confirmed the incident and said that a case has been lodged and investigation is on in full swing. He said that the accused have not been arrested because they might have fled abroad after the incident.

The victim, Rupa (name changed) is a native of Hongbiban village in Mizoram, and has been working with a Noida-based call centre.

She lives in south Delhi along with a friend. She had come to Saket to collect her debit card from HDFC bank. On her way back home she was attacked by the two men.

Cops save the day
"She said that she was walking towards Khidki Extension from Select Citywalk mall when two African guys started following her. They passed lewd comments at her and asked her for sex. She ignored them and kept moving. But one of the accused caught hold of her, calling her a prostitute, and started dragging her towards an isolated corner. He slapped her thrice when she tried to raise an alarm. The girl started shouting, hearing which two cops rushed to the scene. Seeing the cops running towards them, the accused fled from the spot," said a police source.   

A police official close to the investigation said that the victim was then taken in a PCR van by cops in search of the accused. Police thought that the two men might be roaming around in Saket, but they were not to be found.

'Am I a prostitute?'
Meanwhile, speaking to MiD DAY, the victim appeared angry and said that the city is no longer safe, especially for the northeast women.

"Am I a prostitute? Is the word painted on my face? If not then people don't have A right to call me that. People could have accused me of being careless if I had been roaming around on the streets at night. But this happened in broad daylight," she said.

"This is too much. People from the city avoid us. We too have a right to move around freely," she added.

She said that if the cops hadn't come to her rescue, hearing her cries, anything could have happened.

"When I asked them (the accused) why they were following me, they said that it was I who was following them," she said.

Unsafe city

>> On November 24, a Mizo woman, working in a call centre was abducted and raped by five men inside a moving tempo. Four of the culprits have been arrested so far.

>> In October 2009, Pushpam Sinha - an IIT Delhi PhD scholar - killed and burnt Ramchanphy Hongry, a Naga teenager, after she reportedly ignored his advances.

>> In September 2007, there was a huge outcry when three northeastern girls were molested in the Delhi University campus.

>> In May 2005, a 19-year-old Delhi University student from the northeast was raped by four men in a moving car after they dragged her from a roadside eatery in south Delhi's Dhaula Kuan area.

The sensational case made headlines for days.

'Soft target'

Madhu Chandra, spokesperson of North East Support Centre & Helpline said that girls from the region are soft targets. He said whenever a northeast boy or girl approaches the police with a complaint, he or she is ignored by cops.

"Yesterday I met DCP (south) HGS Dhaliwal and asked him that can he make sure that police takes action and helps us. First of all police are reluctant to lodge a complaint. When they do, they are reluctant to take action," alleged Madhu.

He added that the DCP assured of taking action in the matter. Madhu said that though police claims to protect them, people from the region don't feel secure. "We are frightened. Northeast girls are targeted by eve teasers. We don't have faith in the police," he claimed.

He said that earlier police used to drive away people from the northeast from police stations but started lodging FIRs after new Police Commissioner BK Gupta asked cops to take their complaints seriously.

Taxi driver molested DU student

A reportedly drunk student of Lady Shri Ram College was molested inside a moving taxi by the driver in New Friends Colony area of southeast Delhi last week.

A police official said that the victim, Neha (name changed), who is a native of Arunachal Pradesh, was returning home after attending a party thrown by her friends in Hotel Surya. He said that the driver was also drunk.

Three of Neha's friends were on the rear seat of the taxi and she herself sat beside the driver.
"On the way the accused driver, Hoshiyar Singh, on the pretext of changing gears touched her thigh. Neha said she thought it had happened inadvertently and did not say anything. But after five minutes, the driver again put his hand inside up her skirt on the pretext of changing gear. This time she got angry and asked him to stop the taxi," said the police official.

He said that Neha then called her sister who studies in Jamia Millia Islamia and made a call on PCR. Police lodged an FIR against the accused driver under section 354/509 of IPC and arrested him.

"We will also interrogate the owner of the taxi stand, Jitender Kumar Sehrawat, from where the vehicle had been hired by hotel authorities," added the official.

via Mid day