The accused had sexually assaulted the girl before as well, Delhi police told court. (Representational)
A nine-year old girl who was allegedly raped and murdered near the Delhi cantonment area on August 2 died due to "suffocation" during the sexual assault, Delhi Police told court. The accused, priest Radhe Shyam had sexually assaulted the minor girl before as well, the police further said in the chargesheet adding that the search history of the accused's mobile revealed that he had accessed more than 1300 porn websites, indicating his addiction to the same.
In the charge sheet, the police accused Radhey Shyam, Kuldeep Singh, Salim Ahmad and Laxmi Narayan of rape, wrongful confinement, murder, destruction of evidence, and under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act, saying that there was sufficient evidence against them.
This is the first time the cause of the girl's death has come to light.
The girl who belonged to an economically backward family lived in Purana Nangal in the Delhi Cantonment area, close to the crematorium where the main accused Radhe Shyam is the priest. When she went to the crematorium to fetch water, she was raped by the accused who put his hand on her mouth while sexually assaulting her following which the girl died of suffocation.
Another accused, Kuldeep Singh allegedly held the victim's hand while she was being assaulted by Radhe Shyam, the police told court.
Upon her death, the accused showed the victim's body to her mother and said that the girl got electrocuted while drinking water from the cooler.
But the police told the court that there was no evidence of electrocution since there was "no electric current" in water cooler, thereby debunking the accused's claim.
Initially the family was told by the priest and his companions not to inform the police as filing of a case would result in postmortem during which the child's organs will be stolen, thereby insisting that the cremation must be held immediately.
But later, the family raised alarm and the gruesome rape and murder of the girl sparked widespread protests in the national capital. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal visited the family of the girl.