Enraged crowds gathered in Delhi on Tuesday, to demand justice for the death of a 20-year-old woman who was allegedly dragged for about an hour after being hit by a car.
According to the Delhi police the deceased woman, identified as Anjali Singh, was driving home from work in the early hours of the day on Jan. 1 when her scooter collided with the car, consisting of the driver and four passengers, all males. The car did not stop and kept on dragging her body for miles on the roads of outer Delhi.
“We have information that the girl’s body was stuck in the car somehow and was dragged for about 10-12 kilometers,” Delhi police official Sagar Hooda told a press conference on Monday. “Then at a turning, the body was dropped from the car.”
Five suspects have been arrested, according to Hooda.
A witness who accompanied the victim at the time of the incident is cooperating with the police. “She was not injured and she left the site of the accident,” the police official said, referring to the witness. “The investigation is ongoing … we are looking at multiple angles and will soon complete it and the accused will get the strictest punishment possible.”
The victim’s body was badly mutilated, with her torn clothes found near her body, according to a senior Delhi police official. The back of her head and spine were badly destroyed after being dragged for so long, said the police official.
Delhi’s deputy chief minister, Manish Sisodia, on Wednesday called the incident an example of “extreme cruelty”.
The event has shocked the country and dominated headlines in India, where road crash deaths are among the highest in the world. About 150,000 people are killed on the roads each year.
Anjali was the sole breadwinner of a family that depended on free food distributed by the government to economically disadvantaged Indians. She earned a living by offering make-up services to women in her neighborhood and doing small jobs at weddings and other events.