2 Years After Grisly Kanjhawala Killing, Case Falters as Pivotal Witness Dithers

Two years after 21-year-old Anjali Singh was killed after being hit by a car and dragged under it for almost 13km on New Year's Day, the trial in the sensational case appears to have run into trouble after the prosecution's key witness did not show up in court over 15 months, three summons and a bailable warrant.

- Jignasa Sinha

NEW DELHI:

The witness, 23-year-old Nidhi, the victim's friend who was identified only by her first name in court and police records, and who was riding pillion at the time of the incident — forms the pivot of the charge sheet filed on April 2023 that named seven people as responsible for the grisly death.

But despite a warrant — filed in January this year— and three summons from the Rohini court since December 2023, she has not shown up, said officers aware of the matter.

"She is a key witness as others don't even know the entire sequence of events...Her statement could be very crucial, but she has not appeared yet. Multiple summons and now a warrant has been issued against her," said a police officer aware of the developments.

"If she continues to ignore warrants, we will have to push for a non-bailable warrant and produce her," the officer added, requesting anonymity.

HT tried to reach out to Nidhi and her family, but they were not at their residence in Sultanpuri. Their phone numbers were not reachable. When HT visited her house, neighbours said that the family moved out around six months ago.

The officer quoted above said after the court summons, they finally traced Nidhi but are unsure whether she will show up in court. "We finally traced her and she told us she was pregnant and delivered last year. We don't know more about this. We asked her to appear for the next date of hearing (April) and she has told us she will come if her health is better. We will see what court says..." said the officer.

Sachin Sharma, deputy commissioner of police (outer), confirmed that the police know about Nidhi's location now, and that she told them she was pregnant.

Nationwide outrage