The Basti police on Monday said it had arrested a person who allegedly murdered a Dalit woman (23), his alleged lover, after she resisted his attempts to rape her while they were meeting in the fields.
Two police personnel including an SHO were suspended on Sunday for not registering an FIR on the complaint of the family of the woman who was found dead in a field near her house in Kalwari area.
Basti SP Hemraj Meena said the autopsy report had found the cause of the death to be ante-mortem strangulation but there was no evidence of any sexual assault.
The arrested person was identified as Balchandra Yadav, who police said had been in regular touch on mobile phone with the victim especially during the lockdown.
At around 5:45 a.m., a police team intercepted Yadav, said the SP. Yadav allegedly fired at the police team who in retaliation shot him in his leg, said Mr. Meena.
A .315 bore country-made pistol was recovered from him, the SP said. Yadav, whose native village is nine km from the girl’s home, used to visit her village often as his maternal uncle lived there, said the police. On November 10, she went to meet him in the fields at around 7 p.m. and the two spent around one and half hours there, said Mr. Meena.
“The two were having a discussion about marriage and elopement when the boy tried to make physical moves at her. She protested and bit two of his fingers,” said Mr. Meena.
In anger, the accused first strangulated her with his hands and then with her dupatta, said the officer. He then allegedly covered her body with hay and fled, the police said.
The girl’s body was discovered around 70 metres away from her house. Her family suspected she was kidnapped, raped and murdered.
The local SHO and a ‘halka’ in-charge had been suspended for not taking the matter seriously when the family informed them about the missing girl on November 12.
