A middle-aged woman was found hanging from a tree in Bahraich after allegedly being raped, a crime being reported a fortnight after two cousins in a different part of Uttar Pradesh met a similar fate.
While police have not yet zeroed in on a motive, it has emerged that the woman, 45, took on a local liquor vend next to the grocery store she was running in her village Gauria Loniyarpurwa.
The state administration has been battling allegations of incompetence since the Badaun rape-murders came to light and drew widespread condemnation from within the nation and outside. The UP government has transferred a slew of bureaucrats, including the chief secretary, in the wake of the criticism.
Police officials said the body found in Ranipur village on Wednesday, around two hours from state capital Lucknow, bore injuries on her private parts that indicate possible rape before she was hanged.
She had been missing since the previous evening when she was on her way back to her village. Her family had alerted the police on Tuesday, and a hunt was underway till the body was found in a guava orchard.
District magistrate in-charge Uday Shankar Upadhyay and police superintendent Happy Guptan were at the spot for investigation.
{{/usCountry}}District magistrate in-charge Uday Shankar Upadhyay and police superintendent Happy Guptan were at the spot for investigation.
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