Body Eaten by Dogs, Gender Couldn’t Be Ascertained: Four Arrested, Including Three Minors, in Horrific Gangrape Murder of 17-Year-Old in Delhi

A HORRIFIC CASE has shook the national capital once again after a decomposed body of a 16-year-old girl was recovered from an open field near Swaroop Nagar area in Northwest Delhi. On Thursday, September 17, 2026, the police investigation led to the arrest of four accused—19-year-old Shivam Ganesh and three minors—who allegedly dumped the victim’s body after stabbing her eight times.

The body, recovered by Police on Sunday, September 13, was found with her parts eaten by stray dogs and one of her hands separated. According to police, the body was decomposed to an extent that its gender wasn’t immediately ascertainable.

Four Accused Arrested After Examining 50 CCTV Cameras

Shortly after the body was recovered, an investigating team led by additional DCP (Outer North) Lokeshwaran R and assistant commissioner of police Ravinder Ahlawat was set up. They found that one of the locals had spotted the victim on Saturday or Sunday night. However, there was no eyewitness account of the crime, leading the police to examine CCTV footage from 50 cameras. The tempo was seen moving near the field around the time the crime happened. 

The movement was traced through multiple CCTV cameras in a night-long search operation conducted on the intervening night of September 15 and 16, 2026. An officer, as quoted by Hindustan Times, said, “The footage also revealed the presence of four young boys inside the tempo. The boys were soon identified but had fled from their home.”

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The driver of the tempo was ultimately identified and brought in for questioning. The adult accused, Shivam, is reportedly a resident of Khadda Colony, Swaroop Nagar. DCP (Outer North) Shobhit Saksena remarked that the Tempo was also traced to the same area and led to the arrest of the four accused.

“We interrogated all the accused, and during sustained questioning they confessed to the murder. After the crime, they had concealed the body in the mud,” DCP Saksena said to the media. An official complaint has been filed under relevant sections of the BNS and the POCSO Act.

Rape Victim Knew One of the Accused: Delhi Police

The police investigation revealed that the victim knew one of the accused, aged 17, and had gone to meet him on September 10, 2026. According to media reports, the police found that the she was travelling and drinking with them in a tempo before the alleged gang-rape and murder happened. During the interrogation, the friend of the victim reportedly admitted that he invited the other three accused, one adult aged 19 and two minors between 16 and 17, for drinking. They allegedly spent time with the girl before sexually assaulting her. An investigating officer told the media, “When the girl threatened to file a police complaint, the accused allegedly stabbed her to death.”

The police said that the decomposed body of the murdered teenager was found near the Jaipal Rana’s field in Swaroop Nagar area on Kushak Road. The family of the victim reportedly told the officers that she would often leave home for a few days and hence, no missing person report was filed. The Hindustan Times reported that the victim was a school dropout, looking for work to support her family.

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