Delhi Child Rape-Murder: Cab Driver Stalked Sleeping 10-Year-Old for 45 Minutes Before Abduction, Police Reveal
A premeditated kidnapping in the pre-dawn dark of Mehrauli — forensic footprints in CCTV, GPS logs, and biological evidence unravelled a heinous crime within hours
In the early morning hours of Monday, June 23, 2026, a family of daily-wage labourers from Bihar slept on the pavement near CDR Chowk, Chattarpur Metro Station, Mehrauli in South Delhi — a grim but not uncommon reality for thousands of migrant families in the national capital. Among them lay their 10-year-old daughter, a child who reportedly sold balloons to supplement the family's meagre income.
According to Delhi Police, at approximately 4:00–4:15 AM, an app-based cab driver — identified as Bablu, also referred to in multiple reports as Bashu Kumar Singh, aged between 25 and 29 years and a native of Bihar's Khagaria district — parked his white hatchback near the sleeping family. What makes this case especially chilling is what investigators say happened next: the accused allegedly sat in or near his vehicle and watched the family for nearly 45 minutes, waiting for the child to move away from her mother in her sleep before making his move.
The child's father, who was sleeping nearby, awoke moments after the abduction and reportedly saw a vehicle speeding away. He heard his daughter's screams — her last words to him reportedly being "Papa, mujhe bacha lo" (Papa, save me) — but was powerless to stop the car. The family immediately raised an alarm and placed a PCR (Police Control Room) call at approximately 4:58 AM to the Mehrauli police station.
Accused Bablu parks his white hatchback near CDR Chowk, Mehrauli. Investigators say he observed the sleeping family for approximately 45 minutes before abducting the girl.
The child is allegedly abducted from the footpath. Her father witnesses the car speeding away. He hears her screams but cannot intervene.
Family places a PCR call to Mehrauli police station. A kidnapping case is registered and large-scale search operations are launched immediately.
According to the accused's confession, he drove the girl approximately 20 km to a secluded forested stretch near the Faridabad–Gurugram Road, where the sexual assault and strangulation allegedly took place inside and around his vehicle.
In a display of chilling cold-bloodedness, the accused returned to his rented accommodation in Chakkarpur, Gurugram, changed his clothes, and allegedly cleaned the cab in an attempt to destroy forensic evidence — before resuming work and picking up a fresh passenger for a Chakkarpur-to-Nangloi ride.
Delhi Police arrest Bablu from the Vikaspuri area in West Delhi, shortly after he had dropped off a passenger — within six hours of the crime being reported.
The victim's body is recovered from a forested stretch near the Haryana border. A post-mortem examination is ordered.
Police take Bablu to recreate the crime scene near Mandi Road, Fatehpur Beri. The accused allegedly snatches a policeman's service pistol and attempts to flee; police open fire and shoot him in the leg. He is hospitalised in stable condition under heavy guard.
The swift arrest of the accused within six hours is a testament to the effectiveness of converging forensic and digital investigative tools. Investigators deployed a multi-pronged evidence-gathering strategy from the moment the PCR call was received.
| Evidence Type | Details | Role in Investigation |
|---|---|---|
| CCTV Surveillance | Investigators scanned footage from nearly 200 CCTV cameras across Mehrauli and routes leading toward Haryana | Pieced together the accused's movement route; identified the white hatchback parked near the family for nearly an hour before the abduction |
| GPS / Vehicle Tracking | GPS data linked to the cab and the accused's mobile phone | Helped trace the vehicle's route from Mehrauli toward the Faridabad–Gurugram belt, and ultimately pinpointed the accused's location in Vikaspuri |
| Ride-Hailing App Records | Records from app-based taxi platforms were requisitioned for the area and time window of the crime | Corroborated the accused's presence, identity, and subsequent rides taken after the crime |
| Mobile Location Data | Cell-tower and GPS triangulation of the accused's mobile device | Confirmed the trail from Mehrauli to the Gurugram border and back; led police to his Vikaspuri location |
| FSL Biological Samples | Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) teams collected biological and material samples from inside the accused's car and from the crime scene | Establishes physical linkage between the accused, the victim, the vehicle, and the dump site; critical for charge sheet |
| Post-Mortem Examination | Body of the victim sent for medico-legal autopsy | To establish the exact cause of death, sequence of assault, and confirm injuries consistent with strangulation and sexual assault |
| Accused's Confession | During sustained interrogation, Bablu allegedly provided a detailed oral confession | Led investigators to the body's disposal site; confession corroborated by physical and digital evidence |
| Scene Reconstruction | Police took the accused to Mandi Road, Fatehpur Beri, for crime-scene reconstruction on June 24 | Standard investigative procedure to verify confession details and identify additional evidence; resulted in the escape attempt and police encounter |
The accused, identified as Bablu / Bashu Kumar Singh, is a Bihar native who relocated to Delhi-NCR and began working as an app-based cab driver. He drove a rented second-hand white hatchback, which the vehicle owner — a Gurugram resident named Ankit — had handed over to him in February 2026, reportedly because the driver was already registered and verified with a cab aggregator.
Before becoming a cab driver, Singh reportedly worked as a security guard. He has a wife and children back in Bihar. What has shocked investigators and the public alike is the extent of his prior criminal history:
Delhi Police have announced they will issue notices to app-based taxi aggregators on three platforms to examine their onboarding and background-verification processes, questioning how someone with this criminal record passed their verification checks. The vehicle owner Ankit stated he had trusted the cab platform's verification and had minimal personal interaction with Singh.
On the evening of June 24, 2026, in a dramatic turn, police took Bablu to Mandi Road near Fatehpur Beri to reconstruct the crime scene — a standard investigative procedure to corroborate confession details and locate additional evidence.
During the reconstruction, the accused allegedly made a sudden bid to escape custody by snatching the service pistol of a policeman. Officers in the accompanying team challenged and overpowered him. In the struggle, police opened fire, and Bablu sustained a gunshot injury to his left leg. He was subdued immediately, taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment, and placed under heavy security. His condition was reported as stable.
A video that surfaced on social media after the encounter showed the accused lying on a road and pleading for mercy — a stark contrast to the harrowing final moments of his young victim.
Delhi Police have registered a case against the accused under the following legal provisions:
POCSO Act
Section 6 — Aggravated Penetrative Sexual Assault of a child below 12 years of age. Minimum punishment: 20 years to life imprisonment or death.
BNS — Murder
Relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to murder (culpable homicide amounting to murder).
BNS — Rape
Rape of a child — carries enhanced punishment under BNS when the victim is below 12 years, including possibility of death penalty.
BNS — Kidnapping
Kidnapping or abducting a minor for purposes including grievous harm — a cognizable and non-bailable offence under BNS.
Beyond the horrific crime itself, the case has exposed serious gaps in the background-verification systems of India's app-based cab industry — an industry that millions of citizens use daily, trusting it with their safety.
The accused had been operating as a verified cab driver since at least 2023, having gone through the onboarding processes of multiple ride-hailing platforms — despite carrying five criminal cases, including two for attempt to murder, in his home state. Delhi Police have served notices on three cab aggregator companies, seeking their onboarding records and background-check procedures.
The case reopens longstanding questions about whether existing regulations — including the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines, 2020 — are being stringently enforced, and whether inter-state criminal record sharing between state police and private platforms is adequate. Child safety advocates and women's rights organisations have called for mandatory real-time criminal background verification linked to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) database before any driver is onboarded.
The case has triggered widespread outrage across Delhi and India, with citizens, legal experts, and civil society organisations demanding swift and exemplary justice. At the cremation of the victim at a crematorium in Chattarpur on Tuesday, June 24, scenes of inconsolable grief played out — relatives wailed, some collapsed to the ground, while others fainted. Heavy police deployment was present.
The victim's father, a daily-wage labourer, has publicly demanded capital punishment for the accused. "We have lost everything. The accused must be given capital punishment," a relative told reporters at the cremation.
The Mehrauli case is a study in the speed and efficacy of converged forensic investigation: CCTV analytics, GPS tracking, mobile forensics, ride-hailing records, and biological evidence together enabled an arrest within six hours of the crime. That is, undeniably, a forensic and investigative success.
Yet the case also forces a reckoning with systemic inadequacies: a man with a multi-year criminal history including attempted murder charges was permitted to become a trusted, app-verified cab driver. A homeless child and her family, sleeping on a footpath due to poverty, had no safety net. The forensic machinery performed; the preventive systems failed catastrophically.
Delhi Police continue to finalise the charge sheet. The FSL biological analysis and post-mortem findings will be critical to ensuring the prosecution case is airtight. With POCSO Section 6 charges on the table, the accused faces the prospect of the death penalty upon conviction — a sentence that the victim's family, and much of the nation, is demanding.
Sources & References
- Daily Pioneer — "Cab Driver Waited 45 Minutes to Kidnap Sleeping 10-Year-Old, Says Police"
- India TV News — "Kidnapped, Raped and Dumped in Forest: How Delhi Police Nabbed Cab Driver"
- The Print — "11-Year-Old Raped, Strangled, Buried Near Haryana Border; Cab Driver Arrested"
- Republic World — "10-Year-Old Girl Kidnapped from Footpath, Raped, Killed by App-Based Cab Driver"
- ANI News — "Delhi: Mehrauli Rape-Murder Accused Injured in Police Encounter While Attempting Escape"
- The Tribune — "11-Year-Old Abducted from Footpath, Raped and Killed; Cab Driver Injured in Police Encounter"
- The Patriot — "Cab Aggregators Under Lens After Accused Found with Criminal Past"
- Bombay Samachar (English) — "Cab Driver Cleaned Vehicle, Took Another Ride After Crime"
- Republic World — "Mehrauli Rape-Murder Accused Shot in Leg After Attempted Escape During Scene Reconstruction"
- Stack Umbrella — "Delhi Girl Murder Case: 'Papa Mujhe Bacha Lo' — Chilling Last Words"
Disclaimer: This report is compiled from verified public news sources for educational and public awareness purposes. The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. The identity of the victim is protected in accordance with Indian law. All details attributed to police sources reflect statements made during the ongoing investigation and are subject to change as the case proceeds. Budding Forensic Expert does not sensationalise crime but presents it in a factual, forensic, and educational context.
