Badaun gang rape: Accused priest sent to 10-day judicial custody

The prime accused in the brutal gang rape and murder of a 50-year-old woman on Sunday night in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district was sent to judicial custody till January 18 by a local court on Friday.

The prime accused, a temple priest named Satya Narain (53), was arrested by a police team in a village in Ughaiti area of Badaun on Thursday night. An award of ₹50,000 had earlier been announced for his arrest.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath had also tasked the special task force (STF) to hunt for the prime accused but he was finally arrested by a team of local police.

Confirming the arrest, superintendent of police (SP) of Badaun Sankalp Sharma said, “Satya Narain was arrested by a team of local police from a field in Ughaiti area. Narain informed us that he took shelter at the house of one of his followers briefly.”

Narain used to live in the temple premises, where the woman was gang raped and murdered. Police has booked Narain and his two aides for the ghastly crime. The aides were arrested on Tuesday.

Narain, however, kept changing his statements before the police, regarding the incident. He was quizzed by a team of local police that included senior officials. “Satya Narain avoided giving direct answers to the questions related to the incident. He changed his statements a couple of times. Our focus now is on questioning the three accused individually about the sequence of events on the day of the incident," said a senior police officer, who also quizzed the priest.

According to police sources, Narain is a native of Aonla area of Bareilly district. He moved to Budaun seven years ago and started living in the temple.

As per the police complaint, the woman went to the temple, located on the outskirts of her village, on Sunday afternoon and did not return.

Later, in the night, the priest and his two aides brought her body to her house in a sports utility vehicle (SUV) and informed her family members that she fell into the dry well on the temple premises. They then left the place in a hurry.

The family members, however, informed police and the body was taken for a post-mortem examination on Monday evening. The post mortem report confirmed rape. The woman suffered a rib fracture and her left lung was also damaged due to use of heavy force, the post mortem report said.