In a new twist to the Delhi hit-and-run case, it has come to the fore that the victim was accompanied by another woman when the Baleno car hit them in Delhi’s Kanjhwala-Sultanpuri area early on January 1 morning.
According to sources in the Delhi Police, the woman got hurt in the accident and fled the spot. However, the victim got stuck below the car and died after being dragged for several kilometres.
Footage retrieved from a CCTV camera installed outside an OYO Rooms-affiliated hotel shows the two women speaking to a group of men and then driving out of the camera vision range, with the second woman riding pillion on the victim’s scooter at about 1.30 am on Sunday.
The two women celebrated the new year at the hotel. The victim’s companion was also hurt in the accident but she escaped the scene, said police officials, adding that they met with the accident minutes after leaving the hotel.
Sources cited above also said that the police have established the identity of the second woman and will summon her for questioning soon. “Among other questions, the police would ask her why she left the victim and did not inform her family or contacted the police,” said an officer.
Meanwhile, special commissioner Shalini Singh visited the crime spot last night within hours of her appointment by the home ministry as the case investigator. She travelled the stretch of around 10 km from Kanjhawala to Sultanpuri in the wee hours of Tuesday.
She also met some eyewitnesses to verify facts related to the case.
The post-mortem examination has been conducted and the police were waiting for the report on Monday evening.
On Monday, the victim’s family staged a demonstration, demanding that the police add the charge of murder to the FIR. The police are probing the case as an accident, but have not ruled out other angles.
The victim was the lone breadwinner of the family of her ailing mother and four siblings. Many political party leaders are announced to meet the family of the victim on Tuesday.