18YEAROLD RAPED IN MOVING VAN IN DELHI, 3 HELD

DELHI: In another incident involving a rape on east Delhi’s roads in two days, an 18-yearold woman was allegedly raped inside a moving van on Tuesday night. The woman works as a maid and was returning from work when she was allegedly pulled inside the van, police said.

The police has arrested three persons in connection with the case. They have also seized the vehicle, Maruti Eeco van.

The victim initially did not tell anyone about the incident and got back home after the crime. She even reported to work on Wednesday in east Delhi’s Madhu Vihar. “Later, she mentioned the rape to her employer who encouraged her to report the matter to police. The woman is being counselled now,” Omvir Singh, DCP (east), told HT.

The victim told the police that the van had crashed into a divider while the accused were driving it away after the crime. The van seized by the police has the dent sustained allegedly during that accident.The woman was returning to her home after finishing her work at an apartment around 8.30pm on Tuesday when the three men allegedly pulled her into the van and drove through the city for the next two hours as one of them allegedly raped her. After threatening her, they dropped her near her house .

“It is not a case of gangrape. The other two persons in the van did not participate in the rape. But they did not do anything to stop the crime,” said the DCP. “The victim was not showing interest at work on Wednesday. When her employer asked her for the reason, she broke down and recounted her ordeal,” said an investigator.The woman lives in a slum in Mandawali and works as a maid in a few houses in Madhu Vihar. All the three persons, allegedly involved in her kidnapping, were known to her from before, said the DCP.