Hours after the police registered an FIR against three persons for allegedly gangraping a 24-year-old woman, the victim’s body was found hanging from a hook at her Badaun residence Sunday. A suicide note was also found, police claimed.
On Monday, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Badaun, Ashok Kumar Tripathi suspended the station house officer of the police station concerned on charges of negligence. The victim had gone to the local police station on June 15 but theSHO allegedly did not register an FIR despite her request. The alleged gangrape, by the victim’s distant relatives, happened last month. The FIR was registered on the directions of Bareilly zone ADG Avinash Chandra.
The victim, who got married a few years ago, was staying at her parents’ residence for the past few months, said police. Her husband works as a daily wage labourer in Delhi.
A police team went to the victim’s residence Sunday and found the body hanging from a hook in a room. An autopsy report said death occurred due to hanging.
“In a suicide note, the victim had mentioned her ordeal and urged police officers to ensure that the culprits are punished,” said an officer.
Sources told The Indian Express that nearly two hours before the body was found, the police had registered FIR against three persons – all distant relatives of the victim – on charges of rape. The SSP said as per the FIR, on May 15 when the woman had gone to a nearby market, she met three relatives. They claimed that her husband was unwell and that they were going to Delhi to visit him. The victim said in her complaint that she decided to accompany them.
“The victim had alleged that the accused took her to Secunderabad city in Telangana and kept her in a room where they raped her. Around a week later, when the accused were taking her to Delhi, she called her parents using a co-passenger’s cellphone and told them about her ordeal. The victim had said her father, along with some others, reached Delhi railway station, he added. “She claimed that upon spotting the group at the station, the accused fled,” said the SSP.
The SSP said that on June 12, the victim met ADG Avinash Chandra seeking directions to register FIR. Avinash Chandra directed circle officer to get an FIR registered, said the SSP. Additional Superintendent of Police, City (Badaun), Jitendra Kumar Srivastava said a probe was on.
