2 held for raping, burning woman alive in UP; 3 absconding

Sambhal (UP), July 16

Two of the five people accused of burning a woman alive after raping her in Rajpura area of Sambhal district have been arrested, the police said on Monday.

The woman was allegedly burnt alive inside a temple premises after she was raped by the five people in her house on Saturday.

Superintendent of Police R M Bharadwaj said, "The prime accused in the case, Aram Singh and Bhona alias Kunwar Pal, have been arrested. Both of them are being interrogated."        

"Four police teams have been formed and they are conducting raids at various places to nab the other three accused," he said.

The Circle Officer of Gunnaur, Aqil Ahmad, said the accused were relatives of the 30-year-old victim.

According to a complaint lodged by the victim's husband, the incident took place on Saturday around 2.30 am when the woman was in her house with her daughter. Five people barged into the house and raped her, police officials said.

The accused then dragged her to a hut inside the premises of a temple and burnt her alive, Ahmad had said quoting the complaint.

The hut, where the woman was burnt alive, was used to perform 'yagna and havan', SHO, Rajpura, Arun Kumar had told PTI.

Bhardwaj, had on Sunday said that post-mortem of the victim could not confirm whether she was raped.

"Whether she was raped or gangraped could not be ascertained in the post-mortem. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Moradabad, has been asked to ascertain it and the required samples will be sent to them," he had said.

In his complaint, the victim's husband alleged that after she was gangraped, his wife called her cousin to inform about the incident but by the time the police could be contacted, the accused returned and dragged her to the hut and burnt her alive. PTI