STAFF REPORTER, The Hindu

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A young Nepalese woman was allegedly drugged, gang-raped by three young men in a car and then dumped in a jungle in South Delhi on Wednesday. The victim has been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital and is stated to be out of danger.

The 20-year-old woman was found in a semi-conscious state near Nanakpura Gurdwara in Moti Bagh around 7-30 a.m. on Thursday by a passerby. She had scribbled some words on the ground, including her name, indicating that she was raped and that she was a Nepalese living at Kotla (Mubarakpur) in South Delhi.

The passerby called up the Police Control Room at 7-40 a.m. The victim was then taken to Safdarjung Hospital in a police vehicle. “Her medical examination revealed no external or internal injuries,” said a police officer.

The woman is not yet fit for recording her statement, but she has been able to disclose her identity to the police. She got married a couple of months ago to a Nepalese living in Kotla Mubarakpur but had herself been living in a house at Defence Colony where she works as a domestic help. Her husband works at a restaurant in Greater Kailash.

The woman told the police that on Wednesday night she had gone to Chirag Dilli to meet her brother.

“She is unable to recall her brother’s name. She says that she went to his residence around 11 p.m. and found it locked from outside,” said the officer. The woman then went to a nearby bus queue shelter where she was waiting for a public transport vehicle when a car stopped close to her.

Car driver

The car driver offered her a lift and oblivious of what lay ahead, she got into the vehicle.

On the way, two more young men, got into the vehicle.

“The woman told us that they first went to Vasant Kunj and then drove to neighbouring Gurgaon. She alleges that while travelling, the three youth offered her two glasses of cold drinks. Soon after she consumed the cold drinks, she fell unconscious and does not remember what happened thereafter,” said the officer.

The victim told the police that when she regained consciousness, she found herself lying in a jungle. She somehow walked some distance where an auto-rickshaw driver spotted her and finding her in that condition offered help. The driver then dropped the woman near Nanakpura Gurdwara.

“She has so far not accused anyone of having raped her. She does not remember the make of the vehicle in which she had taken lift and cannot also give the description of the persons involved. At this stage, she cannot recall whether she was raped or not. Therefore, on the basis of the PCR call we have registered a case of gang-rape and intoxication at the South Campus police station and are trying to reconstruct the sequence of events leading up to the incident. We have also contacted the victim’s husband,” the officer added.