Woman dragged by car had 40 injuries; autopsy report reveals horrific details

The 20-year-old woman, who was dragged for over 10 kms under a car in Delhi on New Year’s night, had at least 40 external injuries, mostly lacerated wounds, contusions and abrasions. The injuries were so severe that her skin peeled away from her back exposing the ribs, according to the autopsy report.

She had injuries on the head, spine and lower limbs, caused by the accident and the dragging. The base of her skull was fractured and some “brain matter was missing”, the report added.

Anjali Singh had died in the early hours of Sunday, when she was on her way home. A Baleno had hit her scooty, following which her body got stuck underneath the vehicle and was dragged for over 10 kilometres.

Also read: Anjali was screaming, accused deliberately dragged her to death: Delhi woman’s friend 

Sexual assault ruled out

She died because of “shock and haemorrhage”, the report says adding, the injuries may have collectively caused the death. There is no injury suggestive of sexual assault, the report said.

Her mother had feared that she’d been raped as her body, cremated on Tuesday, was unclothed when found on the roadside. According to the report, her clothes were ripped off as she was dragged by car on the road for a long distance.

A panel of three doctors from Maulana Azad Medical College, who conducted the autopsy, has ruled shock and haemorrhage as a result of antemortem injury to the head, spine, left femur and both lower limbs as the provisional cause of death, Indian Express reported.

Blunt force impact

All of Anjali Singh’s injuries were a result of “blunt force impact”, said the autopsy report. “All injuries collectively can cause death in ordinary course of nature. However, injury to the head, spine, long bones and other injuries can cause death independently and collectively in ordinary course of nature,” the report says.

The post-mortem report records 40 “antemortem external injuries” and notes that the “brain matter” was “missing”, and that the pleural cavity was “open with exposition of both lungs”.

Stuck on front left wheel

It has also been found that Anjali was stuck onto the front left wheel of the vehicle, news agency ANI reported, citing the forensic report. Maximum blood stains were found behind the front left wheel but there was blood on other parts also.

There is no sign that the woman was present inside the car, the report said. The blood samples of the occupants of the car have been sent to the forensic laboratory for detailed examination. The head of the woman was towards the boot of the car as she was dragged by the moving car.

Her autopsy report also states: “The victim’s ribs were exposed from the back of chest, the grinding effects on the ribs present with sharpening of the bones… Some of the injuries were inconspicuous due blackening, smudging and burn effects, the injuries were mixed antemortem, perimortem and postmortem in nature.”

Also read: Woman dragged under car was with friend during accident; ‘no injury to private parts’

The Union Home Ministry, to which the Delhi police report, ordered formation of a special probe team as the horrific incident took place when the capital was under a security blanket due to New Year. The men had been drinking and driving the car for hours in Delhi and the outskirts before the incident around 2 am.