‘My daughter was raped, burnt with cigarettes & strangulated’

The story does not end at this. The uncle subjected her to cigarette burns and held her ‘captive’ for more than 24 hours. Two days later, the Delhi Police arrested the man and his wife in connection with the case.

On a humid Friday afternoon, sitting in a one-room shack, located in the congested by-lanes of Navjivan Camp in Govindpuri, the 40-year old mother of the minor girl, with a hearing impediment, shared how that day has devastated their lives forever.

Days after the girl was discharged from AIIMS Trauma Centre, the parents shared with Millennium Post that there were bruises all over their daughter’s face, cigarette stub wounds all over her hand, back and stomach and strangulation marks on her neck.

“Since that day, my daughter has stopped eating properly. She loves tea and daal and rice. A cheerful kid, that has left an indelible mark on her. So much so that she wakes up in the middle of the night, scratching us, in sheer trauma.”

On August 28, Tanu, the accused relative, came to our place at around 4.30 pm. “He said that he is taking my daughter out. I told him to return her early as I had to give the girl medicines. Three hours passed. I sent my 11-year-old son (the victim’s brother) to his place asking him to let the girl come back. Present at his house was his mother and wife. In their presence, he made excuses saying that now the child is sleeping and asked my son to come back the next day with a fresh set of her clothes as he wanted to take her to the zoo,” the mother told Millennium Post.

“The next day, I sent my son with the fresh set of clothes and this time, I asked him to send the girl back right away as it was absolutely important to give her the medicines. But he did not. I then waited for my husband to return home. At 10 pm, on August 29, my husband barged into his room. 

Since it was dark, my husband could not see the injuries on our daughter’s face. Lying on the floor wrapped in a blanket, he picked  her  and came home,” added the mother in the meantime feeding her biscuits.

Meanwhile, the father of the girl said: “It was only after I returned home that we saw there were bruises all over her face. On the night of 29th August, we took our child to the nearest police station. They sent us back saying there was an important meeting taking place. We then went to AIIMS Trauma Centre. While our daughter was getting treated, some policemen came and asked us to tell the name of the relative. It was around 3.30 am. So on August 30, they arrested him.”