Delhi Cantt rape & murder: Disclosure shows girl died of suffocation, say cops

New Delhi: With no physical evidence to establish the cause of death, the Delhi Police have now cited disclosure statements of the accused to submit to a local court that the nine-year-old Dalit girl who was raped and murdered by a crematorium priest and his associates, had died from suffocation.

Citing the disclosure statement of one of the accused in the case, the police told a local court that the priest - Radhey Shyam - had held his hand over the minor victim's mouth while he was sexually assaulting her and that as a result, the girl could not breathe and died of "suffocation".

The police added that Shyam's accomplice, Kuldeep Singh, was holding the victim's hands down during the assault.

The cause of death of the victim was a major point of contention when the case came to light in August this year. While the priest and his associates had claimed that the girl was electrocuted while trying to fill water from the crematorium cooler, the parents of the girl had alleged that he had killed her.

After the death, the accused went on to hurriedly cremate the girl against her parents' wishes but locals' outrage stopped the cremation halfway — leaving just parts of her leg for police to forensically examine.

Earlier in court, the Delhi Police had admitted that they do not have forensic evidence of rape or sexual assault because not enough of the remains were found to be tested.

However, the police have said that they can establish the rape and assault based on disclosure statements of the accused and hence added charges of rape and relevant sections of the POCSO Act in the chargesheet in

the case.

Two other accused chargesheeted in the case, Laxmi Narayan and Salim Ahmed, have been primarily accused of destroying evidence and facilitating the unauthorised cremation of the rape victim.