The body of a woman who had accused eight men, including a Samajwadi Party leader, of raping her in 2013 was found on the campus of a government school in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur area on Sunday, reported The Indian Express. Although the police are awaiting the autopsy report, an officer told the daily that the injury marks around her neck indicated she was strangulated.
The woman’s body was found after her father’s lodged a missing person complaint, according to NDTV. He had told the police that his daughter did not return home after she went to use the washroom. Later, a forensic team also visited the spot where the body was found.
Although no FIR has been lodged yet, the woman’s father told NDTV that he suspected that SP legislator Arun Verma was involved in the killing. However, investigators had found that Verma’s phone had been in Lucknow when the sexual assault had taken place. The police did not mention him in the chargesheet and gave him a clean chit. The case is still pending in court.
Responding to allegations that he had a role to play in the killing, Verma told NDTV that it was a political conspiracy during elections in the state. “I demand a CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] investigation in this case,” he added.
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