After assaulting and raping the 22-year-old daughter of a senior IRS officer at their home in south Delhi, Rahul Meena, their former house help, used the young woman’s fingerprints to open a biometric safe.
After his arrest on Wednesday, the 23-year-old accused, Rahul Meena, revealed disturbing details about the sequence of events that led to the murder of the victim.
During the interrogation, the police learnt that he dragged the unconscious victim, who was a UPSC aspirant, from the rooftop study room down the stairs to a lower floor in an attempt to use her fingerprints to access a safe.
According to investigators, the locker in the house operated through a biometric system. Meena confessed that he brought the victim, who was in an unconscious state, to the room where the locker was kept and attempted to unlock it using her blood-stained finger, but failed.
He then used a screwdriver to forcibly open the locker and stole cash and jewellery, which he placed in a bag found inside the house.
Police sources said that the victim’s blood circulation may have stopped or blood on her hand may have prevented the biometric system from reading the thumb impression. After that, the accused allegedly left her body on the floor.
Police also said that the accused changed his clothes on the spot after noticing blood stains on his pants and shoes, wearing the victim’s brother’s trousers and slippers before fleeing.
HOW ACCUSED BYPASSED 4-LAYERED SECURITY
During the investigation, police found that Meena was aware of the family’s morning routine, knowing the victim’s parents went to the gym and was familiar with the layout of the house, including locks, passcodes, and key locations.
The victim, an engineering graduate and UPSC aspirant, was alone at home and studying in a separate study room built on the roof of the flat after her parents had asked her to start studying early in the morning.
According to investigators, CCTV footage shows Meena entering the residential complex at around 6.28 am wearing a yellow shirt and black pants.
Police believe he was able to bypass the house’s four-layered security system because he had worked there earlier and knew how to move through the building without attracting attention.
Police sources said Meena went straight to the victim’s rooftop study room. During questioning, he told police that he tried to overpower her by throttling her with the intention of sexually assaulting her, but she resisted.
Investigators said he then attacked her with a lamp and another heavy object kept nearby, causing severe bleeding and rendering her unconscious.
Police sources alleged that he sexually assaulted her after she lost consciousness. Investigators said the case has been registered for rape, murder and robbery, while confirmation of sexual assault is awaited through medical examination.
CCTV footage later showed him leaving at around 7.22 am in different clothes, carrying a black backpack. Investigators believe he stopped briefly at a nearby park before escaping.
When the victim’s parents returned home at around 8 am, they found her lying in a pool of blood, with belongings scattered across the house. Her clothes were found torn and she was naked from the waist down, according to investigators.
2 RAPE CASES IN 12 HOURS
The authorities are also investigating allegations that before reaching Delhi, he raped a neighbouring married woman in Alwar late on 21 April, bit her and threatened to kill her before leaving for the national capital.
Meena is a native of Rajasthan’s Alwar and had worked at the family’s house for nearly eight months before being dismissed around six weeks ago, police said.
Investigators said he had been removed after allegations of financial irregularities, including taking money for errands but not paying shopkeepers and instead buying goods on credit.
HOW DELHI POLICE TRACKED ACCUSED
Delhi Police formed nearly 15 teams to track him after the crime and used CCTV footage from the residential society and surrounding roads to reconstruct his route. Investigators later traced an autorickshaw believed to have taken him away from the area.
After questioning the driver, police learnt that the suspect had been dropped at a hotel in Dwarka, where he was arrested.
Police sources said the victim was academically bright and had been an all-India topper in Class 12. She had started studying early in the morning only after her parents asked her to do so a day earlier.
