20-year-old girl raped inside parked car in Delhi, accused arrested

NEW DELHI - A 20-year-old girl was allegedly raped inside a parked car in Indian capital's Moti Bagh area by a man posing as a cabbie early Thursday.

According to Times of India, the woman got into a car at 9.30pm on Wednesday and was driven around for two hours before being allegedly raped by the driver after midnight, police said. She had come to the city in search of a job, they added.

She was waiting near Safdarjung Tomb for a bus to Noida when a man, identified as Avinash, pulled up in a Maruti Suzuki car with a home ministry sticker on the windscreen.

He posed as a cabbie and offered to drop her home for Rs 20 – the usual rate for shared cabs from the area to Noida -- officials said.

The driver then allegedly drove her around the city -- RK Puram, Chanakyapuri, India Gate and then back to Dhaula Kuan – and when the woman asked him about the roundabout route, he refused to answer.

“She alleged that the driver took her to a secluded spot in Moti Bagh and parked the car on one side. He then locked all the doors, overpowered her and raped her inside the car,” a police officer said.

The driver was arrested and reportedly confessed to the crime.

Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. According to the National Crime Records Bureau 2013 annual report, 24,923 rape cases were reported across India in 2012. Out of these, 24,470 were committed by someone known to the victim (98% of the cases).

According to 2012 statistics, New Delhi has the highest raw number of rape reports among Indian cities, while Jabalpur has the highest per capita rate of rape reports. Several rape cases in India received widespread media attention and triggered protests since 2012. This led the Indian government to reform its penal code for crimes of rape and sexual assault.