Arrest of Ravinder Kumar

In July 2015, the Delhi Police arrested Ravinder Kumar for rape and murder of a 9-year old girl. After interrogation, the police claimed that Kumar was a serial killer, who had confessed to murdering and raping over 30 children during 2008-2015. The police presented Kumar to the media, and Kumar confessed to the crimes in front of the media. Kumar's parents claimed that the police had falsely implicated him in these cases, and had tortured him into making a confession. In July 2015, the police claimed that they have been able to find evidence against Kumar in 11 of the cases he allegedly confessed his involvement in.

Ravinder Kumar

Ravinder Kumar (born 1992) was born into a poor family at Ganjdundwara village in Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh. He came to Delhi in 2007 with his parents and four siblings, when his father - a plumber - moved to Karala.[1] He dropped out of school after Class 5.[2] According to police, Kumar stated that he had been sodomized by two children when he was 11 years old, and also in 2015, when he was lodged in the Rohini jail.[3] In Dehli, he was working as a bus cleaner at the time of his arrest.

The arrest

On 14 July 2015, a 9-year-old child was reported missing in Delhi's Begum Pur area, after having gone out of her house for open defecation. On the same day, the police found the child's dead body in a semi-constructed three-story house, located 50 m away from her home. An autopsy revealed that she had been sexually assaulted. The police searched the crime scene, and found some papers and a driving licence on the second floor. The licence belonged to one Sunny, whom the police tracked down to a hospital. Sunny claimed that he had been beaten by his friend Ravinder Kumar, his brother Sunil and a juvenile on 14 July. The trio allegedly robbed him of his bike, mobile phone and wallet, which contained his licence. The police performed a background check on Sunny as well as the three men named by him. Sunny's version was corroborated by a call that his mother had made to the Police Control Room on 14 July; she had told the police that her son had been robbed and beaten by his friends. A background check on Ravinder Kumar revealed that he had been arrested for the rape and attempted murder of a child in 2014, but had been released for want of sufficient evidence, on 18 May.[4][5]

The police traced Kumar to his uncle's home in Govindpuri, where he allegedly confessed to the rape and murder in Begum Pur. Later, a police team interrogated him further, showing him around 100 pictures of children who had gone missing in past six years. He first identified a girl who had gone missing from Samaypur-Badli area, and admitted to kidnapping, sexually assaulting and killing her.[6] He went on to allegedly confess that he had targeted 15 children (and killed 11 of them) in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh during 2009-2015.[7] Police also suspected his involvement in a few 2010 cases, which he did not confess to.[4] A day later, the police claimed that Kumar had admitted his involvement in 30 cases in Delhi, UP and Haryana, during 2008-2015.[8] By 22 July, the number of victims was reported to be 38.[9]

Alleged confessions

Modus operandi

According to the police, Kumar said that he had been influenced by the movie Maa, in which a character raped and murdered children. He picked his early victims from places he would visit with his father, a plumber, for work.[4]

Kumar allegedly told police that he would go around colonies, looking for children playing outside their house, or near latrines. He would then lure them with money and sweets; if they refused, he would gag and abduct them. He raped and killed some of the victims, and had sex with dead bodies of some other victims. In exceptional cases, he would let the victims go after raping them, if they agreed not to reveal the crime.[4][8] He used to consume alcohol with his close friends - Dharmender and Kishan – and watched pornographic movies. He then used to set out with his friends to lure children, kidnap, rape and murder them eventually. He usually committed these crimes in the afternoon or in the early hours.[8]

Victims

According to the Delhi police, Kumar confessed to having murdered 38 children, and to having sexually assaulted the corpses of 32 of his victims.[9] His alleged crimes include:

Investigation

On 20 July 2015, the Delhi Police claimed that they had been able to corroborate Kumar's involvement in 11 cases, after verifying the police records.[17] According to the investigators, Kumar remembered minute details that matched with the FIRs registered when these cases were reported. The police also recovered clothes of victims from some of the spots mentioned by him. He stated that he had dropped a mobile phone at one place; the police recovered this mobile phone as well.[10]

However, the Delhi Police could not find any evidence against him in 16 other cases.[10] The Uttar Pradesh police stated that they have not been able to find any records of crimes that he confessed to have committed in Uttar Pradesh, except the Aligarh case.[6] The Delhi police claim that Kumar would often target children from poor and illiterate families, who did not know how to file a police complaint, and who moved to "unknown places" without reporting the incident to the police out of shame and fear of retribution.[1]

Ravinder's parents claimed that he had been falsely implicated, and had been beaten up into making confessions.[6] The police denied the torture accusation.[18] Kumar's lawyer RK Sharma complained that the police had violated his rights by presenting him to media, and making him confess the crimes despite not having been convicted.[3]

On 23 July, a Delhi court sent Kumar to a 14-day judicial custody.[19]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Karn Pratap Singh (20 July 2015). "Delhi serial killer murdered children, sexually abused corpses". Hindustan Times.
  2. ↑ Tanima Biswas (21 July 2015). "He Claims He Killed 30 Children. Unlikely, Say His Parents". NDTV.com.
  3. 1 2 "Parading accused wrong: Lawyer". The Indian Express. 21 July 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "On missing kid’s trail, Delhi cops land serial rapist and killer". Hindustan Times. 19 July 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Man arrested for abusing, killing 9-year-old in Delhi". The Times of India. 18 July 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "Accused to undergo brain-mapping, DNA tests: Police". The Indian Express. 20 July 2015.
  7. ↑ "Delhi serial rapist Ravinder Kumar admits to killing more than 30 children". Firstpost. 21 July 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Serial child killer Ravinder Kumar admits to 15 more crimes". Zee News. 21 July 2015.
  9. 1 2 Karn Pratap Singh (22 July 2015). "Cops shocked as Delhi serial rapist reveals he killed 38 kids". Hindustan Times.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Somreet Bhattacharya (24 July 2015). "Serial rapist linked to 11 cases; still no evidence in 16". The Times of India.
  11. 1 2 "‘Serial rapist’ held: In two FIRs out of seven, no mention of assault". The Indian Express. 20 July 2015.
  12. ↑ "As claims of Delhi ‘serial rapist’ climb to 30, first reality check from village in UP". The Indian Express. 21 July 2015.
  13. ↑ Karn Pratap Singh (21 July 2015). "Over 20 cases of assault by Delhi serial rapist-killer went unnoticed". Hindustan Times.
  14. ↑ "‘Serial rapist’ held for murder of 6-year-old". The Indian Express. 19 July 2015.
  15. ↑ Shradha Chettri (20 July 2015). "Sodomised and throat slit, he survived attack by Delhi serial killer". Hindustan Times.
  16. ↑ "Family of ‘serial rapist’ told to vacate home". The Indian Express. 21 July 2015.
  17. ↑ Divyanshu Dutta Roy (21 July 2015). "Delhi Serial Killer Has Admitted He Attacked 30 Children: Police". NDTV.com.
  18. ↑ "Has this Indian man really killed 30 children?". BBC News. 23 July 2015.
  19. ↑ "Delhi: ‘Serial rapist’ Ravinder Kumar sent to jail for 14 days". The Indian Express. 23 July 2015.
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