A police station officer has been suspended for “insensitivity” and “delaying due process.”
A 50-year-old Anganwadi worker died after being gang-raped, allegedly by a priest and his two assistants, in a village in the Ughaiti area of Budaun, Uttar Pradesh, on the night of 3 January. However, an FIR was registered. only on January 5 after an autopsy confirmed serious injuries to his private parts.
Two of the three defendants have been arrested, but the main defendant has escaped.
Budaun gang rape | National Commission for Women seeks UP police intervention in case
SHO suspended
The Ughaiti SHO (police station officer) has been suspended by the SSP, Budaun, for “callousness” and “delaying due process”.
The woman’s son told reporters that she used to go to the village temple, which according to the locals, is more like an ashram. “On Sunday he went to his mother’s house and, upon returning, he continued his routine practice. At around 11:30 p.m., the priest and his two assistants took her home in a car. They said that he fell into the dry well on the ashram premises. He was bleeding profusely and soon died. Before we could ask anything, the three of them left, ”he said.
She alleged that the priest Satya Narayan (45) and his assistants, Jaspal and Vedram, were lying because they did not take her to the hospital. “We approached the police because we felt that someone had raped her, but the police did not help,” she said.
In the complaint to the police, the woman’s husband said that he asked the priest to take her to the hospital since she was still alive, but they refused and fled.
Priest video
Locals said a video of the priest where he could be heard saying that she fell into the well was circulating in local media, but police were unable to catch him. They said the well was in an isolated area of the facility and not in a place where someone could accidentally fall.
“The SHO also believed in the defendant’s theory until the post-mortem report revealed that she had been brutalized,” said social activist Shafi Ahmed.
The police took more than 18 hours to bring the body to the morgue. “It was around noon on Monday that the police received a call to 112 and when the body arrived at the morgue, it was already dark. So the autopsy was carried out on Tuesday and a FIR was registered under sections 302 and 376D of the IPC, ”said Sankalp Sharma, SSP, Budaun. The Hindu.
Sharma said that initially both the SHO and family members believed in the priest’s theory because he himself brought the body to the victim’s residence. “It was when the family realized that she was bleeding from private parts that they approached the police. In fact, tehreer [complaint] came to us on Tuesday when I insisted. But the SHO should have been much more sensitive and alert, ”he said.
Yashpal Singh, CMO, Budaun, said prima facie it looked like a rape case. “There were injuries to private parts. She had broken ribs and a broken leg. “Dr. Singh said the wounds suggested she was dragged.” There was excessive bleeding and death was from shock. The viscera have been preserved and the sample has been sent to the forensic laboratory. ”, He added.
District Magistrate Kumar Prashant said the case would be heard in fast-track court and that all possible help from the government would be provided to the victim’s family.
CM Directive
Taking note of the case, the Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath, ordered ADG Bareilly to visit the site and submit a report on the incident.
In what appears to be an adverse comment on the capacity of the local administration, the UP Special Task Force was also instructed to assist in the investigation of the case.
The incident created massive outrage on social media and opposition parties criticized the government. A delegation from the local congressional unit met with the victim’s family and promised all possible support.
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