Ex-DDA staff held for raping employee

New Delhi: After 213 days of filling an FIR, the Delhi police made the first arrest in the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) rape case.

The Delhi police has arrested a former DDA employee on Friday night. The victim, who was an employee of DDA, had previously alleged that four DDA officials, including a director, gangraped her for two years. Even the NHRC had sent notice to the DCP and DDA in this regard. A senior police official confirmed the arrest. The retired official of Delhi Development Authority (DDA), D.V. Rawal, was arrested on Friday night and has been sent to judicial custody.

A Class 4 female employee of the DDA lodged an FIR on December 12 last year. In her pliant she alleged that DDA director Vipin Ahuja along with three DDA officials —  D.V. Rawal, H.S. Rawat, and Manoj Kumar — gang raped and blackmailed her for over three years.

The woman said that she joined the DDA in 2014 after her husband’s death. She first approached DDA vice-chairman Udai Pratap Singh in November alleging sexual exploitation and non-payment of salary for nearly three-and-a-half years. Subsequently, DDA forwarded the complaint to the police as the charges levelled by the survivor were “serious in nature.”

The FIR read she wasn’t given salary for months. She said the accused used to take her to a house in Gurgaon, which belonged to one of his brothers, to commit the crime. The accused used to mark her attendance and take her where they wished. Later they hid the register, following which she was shown absent from work.

Police said the first time, the alleged sexual assault took place inside a room in the office. The victim also told police that the men filmed the alleged act and threatened to make the videos public.

The police said the woman did not approach it initially as the accused allegedly threatened to kill her and her son. The woman also expressed fear regarding the accused deleting CCTV footage from the places she was allegedly taken to, police said.

Following the FIR, a complaint was filed with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) against the accused in January 2018.

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