Woman attacked by auto driver with brick, critical | Latest News Delhi

A 38-year-old woman was smashed in the head with a brick multiple times by an auto-rickshaw driver during a robbery bid in west Delhi’s Paschim Vihar last week, leaving her critically injured, police said on Tuesday.

The woman was attacked on Friday night last week while she was returning to her home with Diwali gifts, left injured in a pool of blood and was only found the next morning. The woman, identified as Rajni Devi, is critical and is undergoing treatment at a Delhi hospital since the incident, police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (outer) Sachin Sharma said that a case was registered last Saturday. The accused auto-rickshaw driver was arrested on Monday.

A senior police officer said that around 7:30am on Saturday, they received a call from a man who informed that a woman was lying injured in a vacant piece of land in Paschim Vihar east. When police reached the spot, they found her lying unconscious. At the spot, police also found a brick with blood on it.

The woman was rushed to Sanjay Gandhi hospital for treatment, and was later shifted to Ram Manohar Lohia hospital.

“Doctors treating her said that she has a fracture in her skull and a head injury. She is critical but there’s a chance that she will survive,” the police officer cited abovesaid.

Meanwhile, a case under section 109 (punishment for attempt to murder) of BNS was registered and investigation was taken up.

As of Sunday, the woman was unfit for statement but on Monday, she was in and out of consciousness and gave her partial statement to police. A resident of Sultanpuri, the woman irons clothes for a living in Kirti Nagar. She told police that on Friday night, after finishing work at around 11pm, she took an auto-rickshaw from Ramesh Nagar for her house. “She said she doesn’t remember anything after that,” said anotherpolice officer.

Police formed multiple teams to probe the incident and scanned footage from over 200 CCTV cameras installed between Ramesh Nagar and where the woman was found. “About 150 auto-rickshaw drivers were questioned. In one of the CCTV camera footage, the auto-rickshaw which the woman took was identified as it had a red tape at the back of it,” said the officer.

Investigators then tracked the accused, who was identified as Sahil Kumar, a resident of Paschim Vihar. He was arrested on Monday from near his residence.

During interrogation, he allegedly told police that on the day of committing the crime, he had intended to rob someone when he left the house and was carrying chilli powder. Police said that after the woman sat in the vehicle, he allegedly stopped it near Paschim Vihar on the pretext of getting money from his house to refuel the auto-rickshaw.

Kumar told the police that the woman had several Diwali gifts and a bag. “He said that she hired the auto for Sultanpuri but he wanted to rob her gifts and bag so he took her to a vacant land in Pachim Vihar,” the officer said. He then threw chilli powder in her eyes and she started to run. “She begged him to leave her and take whatever he wanted to but he said that she had seen his face so he had to kill her. Therefore, he started hitting her with the brick,” the officer added.

He then fled with the gifts and bag containing some cash, the officer said. Police said that the accused has no previous criminal record. The robbed items have been recovered, the officer added.

The victim, police said, is a single mother and is survived by three daughters aged between 14 and 18. The officer said that the woman is financially weak and the primary earning member of the family. Police are extended monetary help to her daughters for her treatment, he said.