Ghaziabad: 2 men held for gang rape to be charged with abetting victim’s suicide

Two men arrested for allegedly gang-raping a 23-year-old woman in Ghaziabad now face charges of abetting her suicide following her death.

Two men who were arrested on Thursday for the alleged gang rape of a 23-year-old hearing and speech-impaired woman in Ghaziabad on August 18 will now be charged for abetting the victim’s death by suicide, police said on Friday. The woman was found dead in her house on Thursday morning and an autopsy report indicated suicide as the cause of death, police said.

The accused, Rohit Kumar, 31, and Vir Singh, alias Bhola, 53, both residents of Nithora village, were arrested on Thursday, police said. (Representational image)

The accused, Rohit Kumar, 31, and Vir Singh, alias Bhola, 53, both residents of Nithora village, were arrested on Thursday, police said.

“The two suspects will now face an additional Section of 108 (for abetting suicide) of BNS along with a section for gang rape and also the provisions of the SC/ST Act. The two were produced before a court under these sections and were sent to judicial custody on Friday,” said Siddharth Gautam, ACP of the Loni circle.

The woman often went for walks outside her house. On August 18, around 7.30pm, the woman stepped out of her house for a walk but later forgot the way back, so she ventured into a tubewell area outside Nithora village, 4-5km from her home, police said. The two accused were having drinks at the same place, police said. The two allegedly overpowered and assaulted the woman, and then let her go, after which she walked back to her house, police added.

On Thursday morning, the woman was found dead in a room in her house, police said. The autopsy suggested that the cause of death was “asphyxia due to ante-mortem hanging,” and the probable time of hanging was suggested as “about half a day” before the autopsy was conducted by a panel of doctors at Hindon mortuary on Thursday afternoon.

An FIR for rape was lodged based on a complaint by her father at Loni police station on August 19. Later, the police added a BNS section for gang rape and also added sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act after the two suspects were arrested.