Woman kidnapped, ‘gang raped’ near Lucknow, dies
Family says she deboarded a bus in Alambagh, and hired an autorickshaw to go to Chinhat, but was abducted on the way
A 32-year-old woman died after she was allegedly kidnapped and gang raped in the wee hours of Wednesday, police sources said. The woman, who lived with her family in Ayodhya, was strangled after she was sexually assaulted at a mango orchard in Malihabad, they suspected.
According to her family, the woman was going to her brother’s house in Chinhat after returning from Varanasi, where she had gone for a job interview. After deboarding a bus in Alambagh in the early hours, she hired an autorickshaw to go to Chinhat, but was abducted on the way, the family claimed.
Deputy commissioner of police (DCP)-West Vishwajeet Srivastava said the woman’s brother reported her sister missing around 3.20 am. Before she was abducted, she had shared her live location with her brother as she suspected that the autorickshaw driver was taking her on the wrong route, the official added.
Her last location was traced near Mohammad Nagar Talukdari police station in Malihabad. “When her last location was near Malihabad, her family reported the issue to ‘112’, after which the local police station immediately formed teams and started searching for the woman. She was found unconscious in a mango orchard near Mohammad Nagar Talukdari in Malihabad,” said the DCP, adding she was rushed to the KGMU where she was declared dead by doctors.
“A case under relevant sections of the BNS has been registered against unidentified miscreants and three police teams are investigating the case,” the DCP. He, however, did not speak about the alleged sexual assault on the woman.
Auto driver key suspect
According to the family, the assaulters also stole her phone before discarding her in a deserted area. “She was found in an unconscious state. Grass around her was trampled. It seemed that she fought vigorously,” said an official who was part of the team that found the woman.
Police said they would comment on the alleged sexual assault only after a doctors’ panel submitted her postmortem report. The police are examining the nearby CCTV footage.
According to the brother, his wife spoke to his distressed sister over the phone. The woman told her that the auto driver seemed suspicious as he was taking her on the wrong route. She sent her location to her brother after the conversation, police said.
“When her location showed that she was in Malihabad, I called her again. I heard a scream after which the line got disconnected,” added the brother.
The police sources said she was found with her face towards the ground. Later, evidence was collected from the scene and police and crime branch teams were deployed to find the culprits.
Woman lived in Ayodhya
The brother said his sister was looking for a job after completing BEd. She left for Varanasi for an interview on Sunday, stayed at a friend’s house on Monday and gave the interview on Tuesday, according to him. She was to leave for Ayodhya, where her husband and 13-year-old son live, on Wednesday evening.
Malihabad police have registered a case of murder on the complaint of the brother and took up an investigation.