Police on Saturday arrested two people on the charges of alleged physical assault of a 20-year-old woman who died hours after being discharged from local community health centre under Bhira kotwali area of Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district on Friday evening.
The arrested accused identified as Salimuddin and Asif, in their mid-20s, are the residents of the same village as the victim. They had allegedly attacked the woman, belonging to other backward class, with a sharp-edged weapon in her house on September 12, police said.
Deputy superintendent of police (DSP), Gola, Rajesh Kumar, under whose jurisdiction the area falls, told HT: “On the basis of the statement of the woman and complaint by her mother, a first information report (FIR) under IPC sections 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) was registered against the two accused on September 12 itself but later section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by means of any instrument for shooting, stabbing or cutting..) was added following the investigation and the medical report of the girl.”
On Saturday, section 304 (causing death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act...) was added to the FIR following the death of the victim, he added. In her initial statement on September 12 as per the video released by the district information office on Friday, the woman had said the two accused attacked her without any provocation. However, in a later video circulated on social media, she accused the attackers of molestation.
{{/usCountry}}On Saturday, section 304 (causing death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act...) was added to the FIR following the death of the victim, he added. In her initial statement on September 12 as per the video released by the district information office on Friday, the woman had said the two accused attacked her without any provocation. However, in a later video circulated on social media, she accused the attackers of molestation.
{{/usCountry}}After the woman’s death, her mother and brother alleged that the two accused had made a bid to outrage her modesty and when they did not succeed, they attacked her. Her family members also accused the police of suppressing facts in the FIR.
DSP Rajesh Kumar refuted the allegations and said the FIR was lodged as per the statement of the woman and the complaint by her mother. “However, in view of the allegations of negligence by the family, local outpost in charge Sunil Yadav has been suspended by the SP with immediate effect,” Kumar added.
Meanwhile, the body of the woman was handed over to her kin following the post-mortem examination and later cremated in police presence on Saturday evening. The post-mortem report is awaited.
On Friday, a video of the woman purportedly recorded on the day of the attack was released by the district information office in which the woman was seen specifically identifying the youths who attacked her.
The death of the woman sparked anger among the villagers who staged a protest in the village on Friday night. On getting information, ASP Arun Kumar Singh, the SDM, Gola, DSP, Gola, Rajesh Kumar and several other officials rushed to the village. A heavy police force was deployed in the village to control the situation.
ASP Arun Kumar Singh and others talked to the agitating villagers and asked them to cooperate. After several hours of negotiations, the family members agreed to hand over the body to police for a post-mortem examination after Friday midnight following which the body was sent to the district headquarters.