Key witness in alleged rape and murder of Kairana woman in April shot dead

A key witness in the alleged rape and murder of a woman in western Uttar Pradesh’s Kairana this April was shot dead on Sunday night.

Bhrampal Kashyap, the brother-in-law of the victim, was found in a pool of blood by villagers of Akbarpur Sunheti after they heard a gunshot. Kashyap was allegedly shot at point-blank.

The woman’s family members claim Kashyap was killed after they refused to withdraw the rape and murder charges against Furqan and Qurban, the two accused who are currently in jail.

Kashyaps’ sister-in-law has been abducted, raped and murdered earlier this year. Her body was found on April 4.

Villagers reportedly blocked police from sending Kashyap’s body for post-mortem until superintendent of police, Ajay Pal Sharma, assured them of action. Kashyap’s family had named six relatives of the two accused as culprits for his murder.

Sharma said that teams had been formed to track down those behind Kashyap’s murder.

Earlier, BJP MP Hukum Singh had accused the police of falsely implicating the woman’s younger brother-in-law and his nephew along with the other accused to mount pressure on her family to withdraw charges.

Singh raised the issue at a rally addressed by Union home minister Rajnath Singh, who assured of a fair inquiry into the case.

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Hukum Singh also spurred controversy in June when he claimed of a mass exodus of Hindus from the Muslim-dominated Kairana due to being targeted for extortion.

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First Published: Nov 22, 2016 21:47 IST