Delhi Police Inaction Leads to Rape Survivor's Repeated Rape

On January 29, 2025, The Probe published a harrowing report exposing systemic failure by the Delhi Police, detailing the alleged rape of a homeless woman in broad daylight on the streets of Nizamuddin in Delhi. This was not the first time the woman had been attacked—she had allegedly been raped multiple times before by the same man. Despite repeated attempts to seek help, the police refused to take action, and this inaction directly enabled the January 2025 assault.

Even after The Probe brought the story to light in January, the Delhi Police failed to act. Now, due to this continued and shocking negligence, the same woman has been allegedly raped again—on June 18, 2025—by the very same perpetrator.

Raped and Assaulted Over and Over Again as Delhi Police Refuses FIR

The middle-aged woman, Ashraya (name changed), was allegedly raped once again on June 18. In an interview with The Probe, she recounted the harrowing ordeal in detail.

“Shahid and his father came and dragged me away to Nizamuddin,” she said. “While his father stood there watching, Shahid raped me. Afterwards, they took me near the temple in Nizamuddin. They carried my belongings and forced me to sleep on the footpath. When I resisted, they began assaulting me. Then Shahid’s father said, ‘Earlier also she complained about rape. This time we should just kill her and throw her somewhere.’”

This time, Ashraya chose not to directly walk into the Nizamuddin police station. Given the repeated refusal of the police to act on her earlier complaints, she said she had lost faith in their willingness to help. Instead, she went directly to Safdarjung Hospital seeking medical attention. However, according to her, hospital authorities initially refused to assist her.

“I went to Safdarjung Hospital this time,” Ashraya told The Probe. “They said I needed to call the police first, only then they would help me. I didn’t have a phone, so I borrowed someone else’s mobile and called a lady lawyer I know. She helped me, and we contacted the police. It was only after the police arrived at the hospital that the staff agreed to treat me.”

To understand the full scope of the institutional apathy Ashraya has faced, The Probe spoke to the lawyer she had contacted for help. Sumayya Khatoon, a Delhi-based advocate, has been assisting Ashraya since her earlier complaints were ignored by the police.

“Ashraya is a widow from Bihar and a homeless woman. She sleeps on the footpath in Nizamuddin along with her children,” Khatoon explained. “She is a destitute woman from a marginalised background. Who wants to entertain the complaint of a poor, homeless woman who walks into a hospital in shabby clothes? It was only after our intervention that the hospital agreed to admit her. Once again, her medical records clearly state that she is a victim of sexual assault, yet the Delhi Police has failed to act—again.”

Medical Evidence Exposes Police Inaction in Brutal Delhi Rape Case 

The Probe has reviewed the medical records from Safdarjung Hospital pertaining to the June 18 assault. The documents confirm that Ashraya was brought in by the Delhi police and that the hospital formally recorded the incident as a case of sexual assault. According to the outpatient reference card, “The victim was at a bus stand at Hazrat Nizamuddin where she was forcibly taken by Shahid and his father to the forest near Gurudwara and sexual assault was done by Shahid, and his father held her by force.”

Crucially, the hospital notes also reference a prior incident, stating that a similar complaint of sexual assault had been made earlier by the same survivor—implicating the same accused. 

The Probe has also accessed the medico-legal examination (MLE) report of Ashraya, which provides critical insights into the physical condition in which she was brought to Safdarjung Hospital following the alleged rape. The findings are deeply disturbing and corroborate her account of a violent sexual attack.

According to the MLE, Ashraya had multiple visible injuries: scratch marks were present on various parts of her body, along with marks on her cheek and several bite marks. Notably, the report documents multiple scratch abrasions of varying sizes, suggesting sustained physical struggle. It also records bite marks on both breasts. 

These medical findings are not only consistent with a violent sexual assault—they serve as damning evidence. Despite such detailed and specific documentation from a government hospital, the Delhi Police have, once again, failed to act decisively in the case. 

A Brutal September Attack—and Delhi Police Inaction

Originally from Begusarai in Bihar, Ashraya came to Delhi in search of a livelihood. But life on the streets of Nizamuddin turned into a prolonged nightmare. When The Probe first reported on her case in January 2025, she revealed that the sexual violence had not begun then—it had escalated months earlier.

According to her account, the alleged perpetrator, Shahid, had raped her three times in a single day in September 2024. The first assault took place in Chhatri Park, Nizamuddin. Before she could even recover from the trauma, she was raped again in the same park. Her mother and sister reportedly witnessed the aftermath and rushed to help, but the damage had already been done. Later that same day, Shahid allegedly forced her onto a train, took her near the Chidiya Ghar area, and raped her a third time. Severely injured and traumatised, Ashraya said she somehow made her way to a nearby police station seeking help.

But instead of registering her complaint, she said she was dismissed. Officers at the Chidiya Ghar outpost reportedly told her to return to the Nizamuddin Police Station because she “lived there”—on the footpath. She was then dropped off in a police jeep without any formal report being filed. According to Ashraya, the response she received from the Nizamuddin police officials was chilling: “Forgive and forget; next time, he will not rape you.”

When The Probe spoke to Ashraya in January, she also described the coercion she allegedly faced at the hands of the police following the September attacks. She said two male officers and a female officer pressured her to record a video declaring that she had no issues with Shahid and was willing to marry him. They allegedly forced her to give a thumb impression on an unknown document—something she could not read or understand, as an illiterate, homeless widow. Reflecting on that time, she had told The Probe, “If the police had arrested the rapist in September, he would not have raped me in January.”

Violent Attack in January 2025 in Broad Daylight

On January 18, 2025, Ashraya endured yet another violent assault—this time in full public view, on the open streets of Nizamuddin. According to her account, the attack occurred around 6:30 PM while she was sitting along the footpath. She said Shahid approached her, dragged her to the side, and raped her in broad daylight as pedestrians passed by. Despite her desperate cries for help, bystanders could only intervene after the assault had already taken place. The assailant reportedly fled the scene as people began to gather.

The violence continued into the following morning. On January 19, around 6 AM, Ashraya alleges that Shahid returned—this time accompanied by his father and uncle. The trio reportedly launched a coordinated assault intended not just to harm her, but to silence her permanently. When Ashraya sought help at the Nizamuddin Police Station, she found herself face to face with the same officers who had previously dismissed her complaints and coerced her into compromising with her alleged rapist.

“I was shocked to see the same cops again,” Ashraya told The Probe then. She said she was bleeding and pleaded for help. Instead of offering assistance, the officers allegedly reminded her of the earlier video they had forced her to record—where she had been made to state that she had forgiven Shahid and intended to marry him.

This time, according to Ashraya, the attack was particularly savage. “They beat me badly with lathis and sticks,” she said. “They said, ‘Let’s kill her and throw her body away. If she dies, there will be no case.’ 

The assault may have continued had it not been for the intervention of local residents. A group of bystanders reportedly rushed to her aid, prompting the attackers to flee.

In a desperate bid for safety, Ashraya called the women’s helpline, with assistance from a passerby. A police team arrived and picked her up in their vehicle—but once again, she was simply dropped back at the Nizamuddin Police Station, where she says no meaningful action was taken.

To verify Ashraya’s allegations, The Probe visited the location where she said the assault took place. Multiple eyewitnesses confirmed her version of events. Several individuals recounted seeing a violent attack unfold on January 18 and 19. Witnesses described the woman being dragged, kicked, beaten with sticks, and left in a severely injured condition.

Photographs of the alleged perpetrator were shown to eyewitnesses, who identified him as the same individual involved in the January attack. One of the key witnesses, Salman, provided detailed testimony.

“Yes, he is the man who was beating her violently,” Salman told The Probe. “His father and his uncle were also involved. I saw it all with my own eyes.”

Pointing to a wooden log still present at the site, Salman described how it was used in the attack. “This is the log they beat her with. They struck her on the neck. The beating started around 8 PM and went on until 4 AM. It was continuous and brutal.”

He recalled witnessing the entire sequence: “I was just sitting down to eat when I saw it begin. They dragged her by the hair from one end of the footpath to the other. They didn’t stop hitting her. Eventually, she lost consciousness from the beatings.”

Repeated Inaction by Delhi Police Raises Alarming Questions

Earlier in January, The Probe reached out to Pankaj Kumar, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Hazrat Nizamuddin Police Station, seeking answers about why the police had refused to register a First Information Report (FIR) in Ashraya’s case—despite multiple allegations of sexual assault, medical evidence, and eyewitness accounts.

In a recorded conversation, SHO Kumar offered a deeply troubling rationale. He stated: “We didn’t register the FIR because earlier also she tried to register an FIR against her husband, and then she compromised and closed the complaint.” When The Probe pointed out that Ashraya’s husband had passed away over a year and a half ago and that the alleged perpetrator was not her husband, Kumar responded: “Madam, this is a fight between husband and wife.”

When pressed further on how he could identify the alleged rapist as her husband without any legal documentation or corroboration—and on the intimidation Ashraya reportedly faced at the police station—Kumar said: “I have proof. They are husband and wife. I have a reply for everything. This is not the right time to talk to you. I am busy at a rally.”

On January 29, 2025, days after The Probe first published its report, SHO Kumar again contacted the newsroom, this time suggesting: “Please send Ashraya to me. Let me see what I can do. Let me see if I can take up the case from your point of view.” However several months had passed and the police failed to take any action. 

Despite multiple violent assaults, consistent medical evidence—including detailed injury documentation and a medico-legal report—eyewitness testimonies, legal representation, photographs of the victim’s injured body, the police still failed to file an FIR. Ashraya’s signed statement detailing both earlier and recent assaults remains ignored. Her recent video testimony recorded by The Probe, photographs showing injuries, and the Safdarjung Hospital’s medical assessment together form a body of overwhelming evidence.

The central question that remains is this: What is preventing the Delhi Police from registering a case? Why is a rape survivor being forced to repeatedly return to her alleged attackers? And more critically—who is protecting the accused, and why?

This repeated institutional failure does not merely indicate negligence—it raises serious concerns of complicity.

From Hospital, Police Forcibly Took Me to Police Station: Survivor

The Probe has accessed a formal complaint letter submitted by Ashraya to the Hazrat Nizamuddin Police Station, dated June 20, 2025. In the letter, the survivor once again pleads for the registration of an FIR against the accused. She states that on June 17 around 4:00 PM and again on the night of June 18 at approximately 1:30 AM, Shahid, the same man who had previously assaulted her, raped her once more. According to her account, she initially gave an oral complaint to the police but officers present allegedly failed to act.

Ashraya’s further states in her letter that she then went to Safdarjung Hospital for medical assistance. It was only after she contacted her acquaintance, advocate Sumaiya Khatoon, did the police arrive and the doctors agreed to begin her treatment and conduct internal medical examinations. She notes that on the morning of June 19, the hospital staff asked her to contact someone she knew. Around that time, police personnel arrived at the hospital and allegedly forced her to accompany them to the police station. “You can get treatment later, first go to the police station,” she recalled being told. Despite complaining of severe abdominal pain, her pleas for medical care were reportedly ignored.

According to her letter, once at the police station, her lawyer intervened again. Lady constable Pooja and officer Rajendra then took her to the scene of the crime and assured her that an FIR would be filed. However, to date, no FIR has been registered. Ashraya further pointed out in her letter that she had earlier submitted a written complaint in January 2025 detailing another rape by the same accused, and even then, no action was taken despite multiple follow-ups at the station. She concludes her letter with a direct appeal: that the police immediately register a formal case against Shahid and initiate legal proceedings so she may finally receive justice.

Another Empty Assurance from Delhi Police?

On June 21, 2025, The Probe once again reached out to Pankaj Kumar, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Hazrat Nizamuddin Police Station, following the latest assault on Ashraya. We reminded the officer of the case we had reported in January and informed him that the same survivor had been attacked again by the same alleged perpetrator—and yet again, no FIR had been registered.

SHO Kumar responded with vague reassurances: “We are collecting all footage and all, and we are doing proper work.” When asked directly whether an FIR had been registered in the new incident or not, his reply was noncommittal: “I don’t know, let me check.”

Pressed further, he repeated what has become a familiar refrain: “We will do it, we will do it. We are on it. We will give justice to the victim. Don’t worry.”

But after months of inaction, delays, and repeated denials of justice, such assurances ring hollow. For Ashraya—still homeless, still vulnerable, and still waiting for accountability—those words offer no protection and no closure.