A man whose daughter was sexually harassed was allegedly shot dead by the accused, out on bail since 2018, and his associates in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, police said in the intervening hours of March 1 and 2.
The daughter of the deceased man, Awanish Sharma, said her father was shot by six-seven people who fired at his temple as well as chest.
The incident took place at around 4 p.m. in Maujpur village in Sasni on Monday.
“Awanish Sharma was shot by Gaurav Sharma and his friends,” said SP Hathras Vineet Jaiswal, “he was grievously injured and died on the way to hospital.”
In 2018, Awanish Sharma had lodged an FIR against Gaurav Sharma on charges of “chedkhani” (molestation or eve-teasing), said Mr. Jaiswal. In July that year, Gaurav was sent to jail and was released on bail after a month, the officer added.
Following the police complaint, there was continued bad blood between the two families, said police.
On Monday, when Gaurav Sharma ‘s wife and maternal aunt had gone to a temple in the village for puja they got into an altercation with both the daughters of Awanish Sharma, who were already present there, over the previous sexual harassment incident, said the SP.
Gaurav Sharma and Awanish Sharma soon reached the spot and there was “hot talk” (heated argument) between the two, Mr. Jaiswal said.
Enraged, Gaurav Sharma called some boys belonging to his family to the spot and fired at Awanish Sharma, said police.
On the complaint of the victim’s family, an FIR was registered against four named accused.
In tears before the media, Awanish Sharma’s daughter begged for justice. “Please give me justice,” she said with folded hands. “First he committed chedkhani with me. My father filed a case. And he shot my papa out of annoyance,” she said.
Mr. Jaiswal said teams had been formed to arrest the accused. “We will arrest them at the earliest and take the toughest action against all four,” he said.
