Only months after the horrific Hathras gangrape and murder, another gangrape and murder case from Uttar Pradesh has shaken the collective conscience of the nation.
Just like in Hathras case, the woman in Badaun also fell victim to police apathy, who did not act when the victim's family approached them.
The 50-year-old Aanganwadi worker was allegedly gangraped and murdered near a temple on January 3. The woman had left for a temple in her village at around 6pm on Sunday.
When she did not return for two-three hours, the family grew worried and went to the police station but were turned back.
Later the same night, three men dumped her body outside her home and fled.
According to the victim's family, the three men were temple¡¯s priest Baba Satyanarayan, his disciple Vedram and driver Jaspal. Some reports suggest that the accused had also taken her body to a medical centre before dumping it outside her house.
However, when she died, they came to her home, rang the bell and threw her blood-soaked body there and fled.
According to the victim's family, they had immediately gone to Ughaiti police station to file a complaint. However, Station in-charge Ravendra Pratap Singh refused to pay any heed and said he will look into the matter the?next day.
The police visited the house the next morning and sent her body for autopsy.
The postmortem, which was conducted some 18 hours after the body was found, revealed that the woman had sustained severe injuries to her private parts. There was evidence of substantial blood loss and fracture in ribs and legs.
The woman's son told local media that she used to go to the place of worship regularly. "They brought her on their own in a vehicle. She was dead when they left her here. The occultist and others dropped her at the door and left quickly," he said.
The police filed the FIR after the postmortem report came in. The driver and the disciple was arrested on Tuesday. The priest is still at large and the police have announced a cash reward of Rs 25,000 on him.
"On Sunday, the 50-year-old woman, who had gone to a temple, was found dead under mysterious circumstances. Family members of the woman have accused the temple mahant and his aides of raping and murdering her. Based on this, a case was registered against the accused. Two of the accused persons were arrested on Tuesday night, while the mahant is still absconding," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sankalp Sharma informed the media on Wednesday.
Four teams have been formed to nab the priest.
SSP Sankalp Sharma also said that the station house officer of Ughaiti police station has been suspended for laxity in the case.