A 23-year-old hearing and speech-impaired Dalit woman, who was allegedly gang-raped by an unidentified man in Loni when she stepped out of her house on August 18 evening, died by suicide at her house early Thursday, police said, adding they have not recovered any suicide note. Later in the evening, they arrested two men in connection with the incident.
Her family informed police about her death at 6am on Thursday, said officers, adding that following her father’s statements, police are treating the case as of gang rape, and have also added provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
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Police registered a first information report (FIR) under the BNS section 64(2)(k) for rape of a woman suffering from mental illness or physical disability at Loni police station following her father’s complaint on late August 19 night. In the FIR, her father said that she was undergoing treatment at the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Delhi, as she also had mental weakness. Besides, she could not properly speak and listen.
On Thursday, the father alleged that it was not a case of rape but a gang-rape involving three men who took his daughter on a motorbike to the isolated jungles of Nithora village, about 4-5kms from the house of the deceased.
“Thursday, we found her dead in one of the rooms of our house after noticing it around 6am. We called up police emergency number 112… My daughter was gangraped, and the police did not lodge the FIR on August 18 night. They kept delaying the matter, and kept us with them for the entire night. Then, they sent us for a medical examination around 3pm on August 19. The FIR was not registered till then. My daughter’s examination was done around 9pm, and then an FIR was registered,” the father said.
She would refer to the younger men as “bhai” and the older men as “uncle”, he said.
“After the assault, when she returned she told us that they were three men. Two were ‘bhai’ and one was ‘uncle’. Earlier, she had undergone an operation for appendicitis and would often take a walk outside if in pain. On August 18 night, she again went out but lost her way. Midway, she asked some men the way to Loni (her house). But they took her on a bike towards Nithora village. They beat her up on resisting them, and took away her phone,” the father added.
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Police said that the body was sent for autopsy and they have formed five teams to investigate the case while also roping in forensics and field units to collect evidence.
“We have two suspects on the radar. They were having drinks near the scene of the crime. We have also added provisions of the SC/ST Act to the case investigation. Our teams are trying to trace the suspects. Once they are arrested, any involvement of more people may also get revealed, and relevant BNS sections will be added,” said DCP (rural zone) Surendra Nath Tiwary.
The DCP said autopsy suggests it was death by suicide.
Investigators said the woman, after the alleged rape on August 18 night, took help from some passerby and used his mobile to call her parents before returning.
“The allegations of delay in lodging an FIR and getting a medical examination done, are incorrect. The family approached police around 11am on August 19. Thereafter, the woman was taken for medical examination to community health centre (CHC), Loni, and then to another government hospital. From there, they asked us to go to MMG District Hospital in Ghaziabad city. Finally, from there, we came to the district women’s hospital, where her medical was conducted and an FIR was also lodged. Initially, the woman’s father told us that she was raped. Later, in his statements before the police, he alleged gang rape,” said an investigator.
The incidents happened under the jurisdiction of the Loni police station area.