Delhi Crime Branch arrests woman accused of abetting minor's abduction, assault after 5-year hunt

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The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested a 23-year-old woman for allegedly tracking and facilitating the abduction and assault of a minor girl from Delhi, who was taken to Gujarat's Surat in 2019, officials said on Sunday.

According to officials, the accused woman, identified as Geeta, a resident of Punjab's Ludhiana, had been wanted for over five years in connection with charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and was declared a Proclaimed Offender after evading arrest.

The accused allegedly lured a 15-year-old girl from her home in Delhi in November 2019, and took her to Gujarat.

The matter came to light when the victim's parents appraoched Kanjhawala police and lodged a complaint about her disappearance, following which a case under Section 363 of the IPC was registered, Delhi Police Crime Branch said in a release.

During the investigation, the victim was located, and in her statement to the magistrate recorded in February 2020, she stated that the accused Geeta had lured her to Surat, Gujarat, where she was held captive, administered intoxicating substances, and subjected to repeated sexual assault by two individuals, Pintu and Satinder, under Geeta's instructions. The victim was prevented from contacting her family, and her mobile SIM card was destroyed by the accused. She was confined illegally in Surat, Gujarat, for approximately four months, they said.

The local police made several attempts to apprehend Geeta, but she continued to evade arrest by frequently changing locations. In February 2020, the accused dropped the victim near Bawana in Delhi, after sensing police scrutiny. The victim managed to return home independently, they added.

Based on the victim's statement, additional charges were added to the case, including Sections 328, 376D, and 120B of the IPC, along with Section 6 of the POCSO Act. Geeta continued to evade arrest, leading the court to declare her a Proclaimed Offender.

Secret information regarding her whereabouts was later provided to the Crime Branch, which tracked her to Ludhiana. Utilizing both technical surveillance and manual intelligence, the team located and apprehended her in Janta Nagar area of Ludhiana. No further arrests have been made in the case, they said.

Accused Geeta, born in Raghunathpur in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow was educated up to the 8th grade. Her parents worked as labourers, and the family previously resided in Village Punjab Khor, Delhi. Geeta, who is married but separated from her spouse, was 18 years old at the time of the offense. She currently resides in Janta Nagar, Ludhiana, and this case marks her first recorded criminal involvement, they added.

Officials were further looking into the case and a hunt to nab the two other accused in the case was on.

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