![\"'Mar](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-131970093,imgsize-97237,width-400,height-225,resizemode-72\/a-cab-driver-accused-of-kidnapping-raping-and-murdering-an-11-year-old-girl-was-shot-in-the-leg-during-an-alleged-escape-attempt-at-a-crime-scene-reconstruction.jpg\" "\\"A")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nNEW DELHI: Shot in the leg during an alleged escape bid at a crime scene reconstruction, cab driver Bashu Kumar Singh, accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl sleeping on a south Delhi pavement, was heard muttering “mar gaya, mar gaya” in pain at the hospital.For the girl’s father, watching his daughter’s body go up in flames at a Chattarpur crematorium, the encounter was not enough. “Encounter is not justice. I want him to be hanged,” he said. The crime<\/span> At around 4.15am on Monday, the girl \u2014 one of several children of a homeless daily-wage family sleeping on a pavement near Chattarpur Metro station in Mehrauli \u2014 was allegedly pulled into a white hatchback by Singh, 29, a Bihar native who had been driving app-based cabs since 2023. Her father heard her cry out once. “She only said one word \u2014 ‘Papa’. By the time I woke up, she was being taken inside the car. I picked up a stick and ran after them, but the driver fled within a minute,” he told TOI, his voice breaking. He immediately called for help and gave police the vehicle’s number.<\/p>\n According to cops, Singh had parked near the pavement for nearly 45 minutes before the abduction \u2014 allegedly stalking the family silently from his vehicle. Police said he had consumed marijuana before the crime. He allegedly sexually assaulted the child inside his cab on Mandi Road near Fatehpur Beri, then drove her to a forested stretch along the Faridabad-Gurugram road, strangled her using a piece of cloth, struck her on the chest with a stone, and concealed her body under stones in an apparent bid to delay its discovery. Back on the road within hours<\/span> What investigators found equally chilling was what Singh did next. After allegedly killing the child, he returned to his rented accommodation in Chakkarpur, Gurugram, changed his clothes, and resumed taking cab rides \u2014 behaving, by all accounts, as if nothing had happened. “He started taking rides again around 6am,” an officer said. He was eventually arrested in Vikaspuri, west Delhi, around 11am after dropping off a passenger \u2014 approximately seven hours after the PCR call was received. The chase: Father’s memory and a digital trail<\/span> The breakthrough came from the father’s fractured recollection \u2014 a white car, a yellow commercial plate, disappearing into the night. Police formed over 20 teams. After Singh switched off his phone following the crime, investigators pivoted to CCTV, scanning footage from 70 cameras to reconstruct the vehicle’s electronic route.<\/p>\n They contacted cab aggregators for GPS coordinates of all registered vehicles in the relevant quadrant at the relevant time. When Singh switched his phone back on to accept a ride, his location was exposed. He was cornered in Vikaspuri and arrested within seven hours of the PCR call. During interrogation, Singh repeatedly changed his account \u2014 first denying the crime, then claiming he had dropped the girl on Mandi Road, before eventually confessing to the rape and murder. He led police to the concealed body around 5pm. The encounter<\/span> On Tuesday evening, Singh was taken to the crime scene near Mandi Road for reconstruction. According to police, he allegedly snatched the service pistol of a policeman during the exercise and attempted to flee. Officers fired in retaliation; one round hit his left leg. He was subdued and taken to hospital.In a video that surfaced from the hospital, Singh is seen lying on a stretcher and repeatedly crying out, “Mar gaya, mar gaya” (I am dead, I am dead), apparently in pain after sustaining the gunshot wound. Cab aggregators under lens<\/span> The arrest has also turned the spotlight on the platforms Singh worked with. Delhi Police will serve notices to three major cab aggregators seeking details of his onboarding and verification process \u2014 this after it emerged Singh had five criminal cases registered against him in Bihar, including two for attempt to murder. “Police will examine whether the platforms carried out proper background verification before allowing him to operate commercially,” officials said. A family with nothing left to lose<\/span> The girl’s family had migrated to Delhi from Bihar months ago in search of work. Unable to afford rent, they had been living on the pavement. Her father had only recently managed to get her enrolled in a government school after struggling to arrange the required documents. “She wanted to study,” he said, his voice choking. At the crematorium, family members collapsed repeatedly. Several fainted and had to be helped up. The father’s demand was unambiguous: “Capital punishment. The strictest possible sentence \u2014 to send a clear message to everyone.” A case under Section 6 of the POCSO Act along with charges of rape, kidnapping and murder under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been registered. Police said the chargesheet will be filed at the earliest.<\/div>\n![\"-\"](\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/photo\/msid-131970214\/.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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