Thaindian News

New Delhi, Jan 3 (IANS) The Delhi Police Monday continued their search for a lead in the murder of a 17-year-old girl on New Year’s day, but failed to achieve any breakthrough. “The investigation is going on and we are trying to identify the culprit,” a police official said.

The victim, whose battered body was found in Dwarka in southwest Delhi Saturday afternoon, resided with her brother in the servants’ quarters of the Lady Hardinge Hospital in New Delhi area. She had gone out for a New Year party Friday. She can not be named for legal reasons.

“We have detained four suspects from the locality,” Sharad Aggarwal, deputy commissioner of police for southwest district, told IANS.

“The four who have been detained went missing soon after the incident. We are questioning them,” Aggarwal said.

According to police, the girl was first strangled with her pair of jeans and then her face was smashed with a stone to make identification difficult.

Police claim there were no injuries on the victim’s private parts and it was yet to be established if she was raped.

“The preliminary medical reports state that the girl had sexual intercourse prior to her murder but there were no injuries on her private parts. We are investigating the case from all possible angles. We cannot confirm this to be a rape as of now. We are trying to gather leads in the case,” Aggarwal said.

He said they were awaiting the post-mortem examination report.

Another police official said the victim told her brother at around 5.30 p.m. Friday that she was going out with her friends to a party.

The body was discovered by a passer-by around 3.30 p.m. Saturday in Dwarka area, and he immediately informed the police.