Swiss diplomat’s rape: Never solved, why 2003 case that rattled Delhi, embarrassed India, has found itself back under spotlight

The woman rang her workplace – the Swiss Embassy – situated at Nyaya Marg, Chanakyapuri. Soon the Delhi Police was informed. The police had its task cut out: the survivor in this case was a diplomat and the pressure, both at local and international level, to nab the culprits was immense.

The police analysed millions of calls and questioned over 5,000 people over the next five years to get some clue, any clue. The personnel even made several visits to jails, questioning inmates for a lead. That, too, was unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the victim had to make multiple visits to the hospital — one of the accused had told her that he had HIV.

Finally, the police filed an “untraced” report at Patiala House Court in December 2008, stating, “…so far, no clue has been found.”

“This is one of those cases that put the entire Delhi Police on the task to nab the culprits, but all our efforts went in vain,” an officer connected with the probe said.

A week after the incident, the woman went back to Switzerland and never returned. The case, which led to large scale protests and outrage, not least because the accused had allegedly returned to the scene of crime the same night to rob another woman, was forgotten over the years.

However, a recent report on a news platform, regarding Delhi Police’s alleged surveillance on the daughter of IPS officer Kiran Bedi on the latter’s request, has turned the spotlight on the over 21-year-old case.

According to the news report, a crucial lead in the rape case was allegedly ignored because the Delhi Police was busy with the surveillance of the celebrated IPS officer’s daughter.

Abduction, rape in heart of Delhi

Situated in the posh Hauz Khas area, a few hundred metres away from the ruins of the 14th-century Siri — the historic second city of Delhi —the Siri Fort Auditorium is a coveted address hosting musical concerts, cultural performances and plays. On this night, it was screening a Chinese film as part of the 34th International Film Festival.

Around 10 pm, after watching the film, the woman was walking up to her car, a Toyota Qualis, when she was accosted by the two men.

The woman would later tell the police that the accused, who dumped her around four kilometres away from the auditorium after one of them raped her, spoke good English and appeared “well read”.

She told police that the accused checked her purse and took away her credit card and a diamond ring that she was wearing.

The main accused also forced her to share the PIN of her credit card with him, she told them. The woman’s medical examination established the rape.

Soon after, police were informed about another shocking development – in the parking lot where the diplomat was abducted, another woman, a filmmaker, was robbed the same night. It was believed that the accused in both the cases were the same; details of the perpetrator provided by the two victims were similar.

Five policemen, including an inspector, who were entrusted with the security in the area, were suspended.

A case under sections 376 (rape), 366 (kidnapping), 342 (confinement), 394 (robbery) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered at the Hauz Khas Police Station.

The outrage

The case had not just jolted the country but also caused major embarrassment for India on a diplomatic level. The Switzerland government questioned the law and order situation in Delhi and pointed out that it was the duty of the host country to protect foreign diplomats.

The Delhi Police had to face criticism from every quarter even as several delegates and filmmakers wore black badges and held protests at Siri Fort Auditorium, questioning the safety of women.

The then Lt Governor and Delhi Police Commissioner visited the scene of crime and the Embassy.

The investigation

Initially registered at Hauz Khas Police station on October 15, 2003, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch’s Inter State Cell (ISC).

Soon after, an SIT (special investigation team) was formed under the supervision of the then south district DCP.

In addition, over 50 different police teams from various districts in Delhi along with the crime branch and the special branch sleuths were assigned for the manhunt. These teams were led by inspectors and ACP- level officers.

The task was not, however, easy.

“During those days, CCTV cameras, now an important tool in any probe, were not installed anywhere. Although, the concept of dump data had been introduced. With the help of that technology, we found out that 12 phones were active at the crime scene around the time of the incident (10pm-1am). We tracked down those individuals but none of their physical descriptions matched the details provided by the victim to the police,” an officer, part of the probe team, said.

The face sketches of the accused, suspected to be around 28 to 30 years old, were sent to over 150 police stations, including neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

“She (the survivor) told us they appeared to be from North India. Both could speak good English (language) and were well-read. One of them was wearing a T-shirt,” the officer recalled.

The victim told police that one of the accused was also carrying a small Zippo-cigarette lighter, the officer said.

“Rummaging through her purse, the accused found her identity card through which they learned the woman was a diplomat from Switzerland. The main accused talked to her about the European country at length before letting out a private information — he was HIV positive,” said the officer.

During investigation, the police teams thoroughly scanned the route – from Siri Fort Auditorium to Panchsheel Road where the car was abandoned –multiple times. They checked almost all the Delhi hospitals to get details of patients being treated for HIV.

“We analysed the CDR (call data records) of many people who were connected to the victim — family, friends and her staff members,” a police officer said.

Millions of calls were analysed and over 5,000 people, including alleged criminals who were inside jail or out on bail, were questioned. Back in Switzerland, the victim continued communicating with the police teams in Delhi through e-mail.

Delhi Police even announced a reward of Rs 4 lakh (it was later increased to Rs 6 lakh) against information on the accused. The amount was among the highest announced by the force.

Instead of finding a clue, this only led to several false leads. There were instances when people called the PCR to settle personal scores.

“Based on one such anonymous call, we picked up a man from a South Delhi farm house but his DNA did not match with the accused, whose semen was found on the victim’s clothes,” the officer said.

For the first few months, the police would get calls almost daily from people who claimed to have some information regarding the suspects. “We checked all such calls. But it did not bear any fruitful result,” said another officer.

“We did not leave any stone unturned to solve the case. In fact, we even checked with the licensing authority to know the details of the people who had a driving licence,” the officer said.

Closure report

A team led by an inspector under the supervision of an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) finally filed the untraced report, or closure report, at the Patiala House Court in 2008.

A file containing the untraced report, which includes 8-10 pages of the operational part and 300 additional pages of the case diary, was later submitted to the Hauz Khas police station. It has now been kept in the police station’s Vernacular Record Keeping (VRK) room.

An Inspector, who was part of the investigation, said that “it was a completely blind case that was never solved”.

“All the resources that were available — from human intelligence to technical tools of that time — were used, but no lead was ever found,” he said.

News report, renewed interest

In 2003, the year the rape took place, IPS officer Bedi was posted in New York as Police Adviser and Director of United Nations Police. According to the report published in a website, Bedi allegedly got the Delhi Police to mount surveillance on her daughter and her then partner. Bedi, the report claimed, suspected that her daughter’s partner was leveraging the IPS officer’s profile to further an “unscrupulous money making” scheme.

Senior police officials, who were part of the investigation in the Swiss diplomat rape case, refused to comment on the issue. Lower-ranking officers claimed they were not aware of any such surveillance.

Bedi, for her part, told the news portal that she had requested the police to “save an innocent life.” “The police did its duty,” the website quoted her as saying.

The website claims it has accessed multiple emails which were allegedly exchanged between Bedi and her friends — the police officers — regarding the surveillance. The website claims that “according to one e-mail, the operation yielded a possible lead about the sexual assault on the Swiss diplomat in 2003. This lead was never communicated to those investigating the assault.”

The Indian Express talked to at least three Delhi Police officers who were part of the five-year-long investigation in the rape case. Two of them have already retired; none wished to come on record.

The Swiss diplomat rape case, meanwhile, has been awaiting a breakthrough for the last 21 years.

The police officers connected with the probe have not given up hope yet. “We still hope that someday, the case will crack,” one of the officers said.  Another officer, now retired, attributed the progress of the case to fate. “Bad luck was the only reason; otherwise, this case would have been solved,” he said.

The officers may well have a valid reason for their optimism: The DNA profile of the rapist. It’s still safe with them.