Seven-year-old girl identified the rapists by their voices

NEW DELHI: The seven-year-old girl, who was gang-raped late on Sunday night in Yamuna Khadar area of Mandawali, helped police nab the rapists. Since the girl was blindfolded she couldn’t see their faces but she recognised them by their voice as they lived in the neighbourhood.

The police said the girl knew two of them -- Amir, 21 and Bhim Sen, 19. They met her often on her daily two-kilometre walk to the school. They also visited her house.

It was the girl’s presence of mind that helped the police catch the rapists within an hour of the crime.

“My daughter returned home after the crime and woke us up. She was bleeding and in pain. We asked them who did it to her and she took the names of Amir and Bhim. She said the same to the police,” said the girl’s father.

When police raided the shacks of Amir and Bhim around 2.30 am on Monday, the two were found sleeping, unaware of the fact that despite the precautions they took to conceal their identities during the crime the girl had recognized them through their voices.

The two initially pleaded innocence but then broke down and confessed . Their interrogation led to the arrest of the third accused, Bhure, 19.

The girl’s father suspected that the three assaulted the girl to take revenge on her brother. Amir and Bhim fought with the victim’s brother on Friday.

“Amir had an argument with my son who lives in Ballabgarh over the speed of his bike. He was coming to celebrate Rakshabandhan with the family,” he said.

Amir had threatened the family with consequences, he alleged. “We suspect that Amir took revenge on us by victimising our daughter,” he said.

The girl’s family alleged that the kin of one of the accused was threatening them.