A 27-year-old woman was killed in a road accident in West Bengal's Paschim Bardhaman district while racing with another vehicle on Monday, police said, backtracking from the statement that the woman died while trying to escape from eve-teasers who were chasing her in another vehicle.
The 27-year-old event management professional was killed in the road accident after her car overturned while racing with another vehicle on Monday, news agency PTI quoted police.
The victim, an event management professional, was a resident of Hooghly's Chinsurah, police added.
The deceased was going to Gaya with three of her colleagues for a function when the accident took place at Panagarh around 9:30 pm on Sunday, police said. Two other persons travelling with her also sustained critical injuries, they added.
ALSO READ | UP woman, ‘fed up of blackmail and sexual abuse’, chokes man to death
The victim and her colleagues had refueled their car at a petrol pump in the region when a white car with five passengers began to follow them, a senior police officer was quoted as saying earlier on Monday.
"As soon as they got onto the highway, the men in the other car started making lewd remarks towards the victim and began driving recklessly," the officer told PTI, adding that soon after the accident, the alleged eve-teasers abandoned their vehicle and fled the scene.
{{/usCountry}}"As soon as they got onto the highway, the men in the other car started making lewd remarks towards the victim and began driving recklessly," the officer told PTI, adding that soon after the accident, the alleged eve-teasers abandoned their vehicle and fled the scene.
{{/usCountry}}In the evening, however, the Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate dismissed these claims, stating that there was no "eve-teasing" or chase involved. Instead, they said it was the victim’s car that was following the other vehicle.
“There was no eve-teasing in this case. We have spoken to the driver and the co-passenger of the victim's car. Technical evidence from CCTV footage shows that the victim's car was actually chasing the other vehicle. It started when the victim's car overtook the other vehicle, leading to an accident,” said Asansol-Durgapur Commissioner of Police Sunil Kumar Choudhary.
“The other vehicle then overtook the victim’s car and proceeded toward Panagarh Rice Mill, where its occupants reside. The victim’s car continued chasing them, and while taking a turn, it overturned,” Choudhary added.
ALSO READ | Ghaziabad: To avoid paying alimony, man murders ex-wife on trip to Haridwar
The police said their investigation, backed by CCTV footage, contradicted the allegations of eve-teasing.
Choudhary stated that CCTV footage showed the victim’s car trying to overtake the white vehicle and then following it. At one point, the white vehicle entered an alley, and while attempting to follow it, the deceased's car lost control, causing the vehicle to overturn, he said.
"We have questioned the driver and the person who lodged a complaint and after going by their statements, we could say that there was no incident of eve-teasing," the news agency quoted Choudhary, who added that no one was arrested in connection with the incident.
After police rejected eve-teasing claims, the victim’s mother raised concerns over the investigation and accused the authorities of shielding the culprits.
She travelled from Chandannagar to Asansol and filed a complaint at Kanksa Police Station.
“My daughter is dead, and the people in the white vehicle are still free,” she said.
The police seized both vehicles and launched a probe.