Held captive for hours, woman suffers eye socket fracture, facial injuries

Faridabad: Days after the alleged gang rape of a 25-year-old woman in Faridabad, clearer accounts from doctors, police officials and family members have shed light on the prolonged ordeal she endured inside a moving vehicle and the extent of the injuries that continue to keep her hospitalised. The survivor, a mother of three, is now stable but remains under close medical supervision as she recovers from multiple fractures and deep facial wounds suffered during the assault and after being thrown from the speeding van.

According to investigators, the woman left her parents’ home on Monday evening following a prolonged dispute with her mother. She had been living with her parents after problems in her marriage and told her sister that she was going to a friend’s house in Sector 23. During a video call earlier that evening, her sister said, the woman appeared extremely distressed. “She said she was going out of her mind and needed to step out,” the sister recalled, adding that the woman also spoke briefly to her niece before leaving the house around 8.30 pm.

What followed was a series of movements across the city that eventually left her stranded late at night. After reaching her friend’s place, she was delayed and by midnight found public transport largely unavailable. Police said she took an auto-rickshaw to NIT 2 Chowk, walked towards Metro Chowk and waited for another three-wheeler to take her to Kalyanpuri. It was there that two men offered her a lift in a white Maruti Suzuki Eeco van.

Instead of heading towards her destination, the vehicle was driven onto the Gurugram-Faridabad road and towards increasingly isolated stretches. Police said dense fog, cold weather and sparse traffic created conditions in which her cries for help went unheard. Beyond the Hanuman temple on the highway, the woman was allegedly assaulted inside the moving van. Investigators estimate that she was held against her will for nearly three hours as the vehicle continued to drive through deserted areas.

Family members allege that when she resisted and screamed, the men threatened to kill her. Officials familiar with the investigation said the resistance led to repeated physical assault. “Most of the injuries were caused due to violence during the assault and from being thrown out of the vehicle,” one official said.

The ordeal ended around 3 am when the woman was allegedly pushed out of the moving van near Raja Chowk in Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Nagar. Police said the vehicle was travelling at more than 90 kmph at the time. The fall onto the road caused severe trauma. Despite her condition, the woman managed to make a call to her sister shortly afterwards.

“The phone rang around 3.30 am. There was no voice, just silence,” her sister said. When she called back, she heard sobs. “I kept talking to her for about half an hour and then alerted a friend she had spoken to earlier,” she said. The family rushed to the spot and found the woman bleeding heavily, with her face badly injured.

She was first taken to Badshah Khan Civil Hospital, where doctors advised immediate referral to Delhi because of the seriousness of her injuries. The family later admitted her to a private hospital in Faridabad. Doctors said she suffered fractures to her right eye socket, broken facial cavities, a fractured and dislocated shoulder, and multiple deep cuts to her face that required more than a dozen stitches, with some wounds needing over 20 sutures.

Dr Amit Yadav, director of the private hospital treating her, said there was significant swelling on her face and a fracture in the eye socket. “We are planning surgery for her shoulder fracture and dislocation,” he said, adding that her condition is stable. Medical teams have also noted that some facial injuries may have been caused when she hit a hard surface after being pushed from the vehicle.

Police have arrested two men aged between 25 and 30 in connection with the case and seized the Eeco van allegedly used in the crime. Forensic samples have been collected from the vehicle, the survivor and the accused, and blood samples have been taken to determine whether the suspects were intoxicated. A test identification parade is planned once the woman is discharged.

As the investigation continues, police officials said they are reconstructing the route taken by the van using CCTV footage and witness inputs, while doctors focus on treating injuries that reflect both the violence of the assault and the force of being thrown from a moving vehicle.