Statement of woman seen with 20-year-old before being dragged under car recorded

Investigators have recorded the statement of a woman who was with the 20-year-old before she was dragged in Delhi under a car for at least two hours and found dead in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Special police commissioner Sagar Preet Hooda said they now have an eyewitness and that will help them ensure strictest punishment to the accused. “She is cooperating with the police in the investigation. In CCTV footage, Nidhi [the witness] was seen accompanying the victim just before the incident. She did not sustain any injury,” he said.

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A video purportedly showing the two women leaving a hotel in Rohini Sector 23 at 1:31am on January 1 on her scooty surfaced on Tuesday. The investigators seized the hotel’s CCTV footage and the register as they sought to ascertain the sequence of events as questions remained over what led to the incident that triggered outrage.

Workers at the hotel said the two women checked in around 9pm.

Hooda said the investigation is still in the primary stage and that they hope to reach a conclusion soon. He refused to divulge details about the post mortem report or cause of the incident.

Another officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the call details of the 20-year-old woman and her friends were being scrutinised. “Prima facie, it appears that they were not known to the accused. The outer district police have got over 400 CCTV footages from different parts of the 14-kilometer stretch the victim was allegedly dragged by the car.”

He said police have also detained three men who celebrated New Year with the 20-year-old and her friend at the Rohini hotel. “They may also be taken for medical examination as it can unveil many hidden facts about the incident.”

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The grisly death provoked outrage with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal calling for the death penalty for the five men, suspected to be drunk, in the car.

Police said the five, who were arrested for culpable homicide, in a grey Maruti Suzuki Baleno hit the woman riding the scooty in Sultanpuri. The impact entangled her body to the underside of the car.

Unaware of this, the men drove on from the accident site, dragging her body for at least 14km. The body was later dislodged in a mangled state before local residents found it.

Questions and inconsistencies emerged about the death and how it occurred as it triggered protests.

Police on Monday said they detained the woman’s friend riding the scooty with her. She allegedly fled after the accident. The two women worked for an event management company.

Police said the five men borrowed a friend’s car and were on their way back after drinking and eating when they hit the woman in Sultanpuri.