The decomposed body of a Dalit woman was found in a vacant plot near a hermitage built by former Samajwadi Party minister Fateh Bahadur Singh in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district, PTI reported on Friday citing the police. The woman from Unnao district had gone missing two months ago.
Rajol Singh, the son of Fateh Bahadur Singh, and a person named Suraj have been arrested in connection to the matter, the police said. On December 8, after the 22-year old woman went missing, her mother had alleged that she had been kidnapped by Rajol Singh, PTI reported.
The local police had not filed a first information report even as the woman could not be traced 24 hours after the missing complaint was filed on December 8. The local police station in charge has been suspended for not following this procedure, an unidentified official of the Unnao Police told reporters on Friday.
On Thursday, Unnao Additional Superintendent of Police Shashi Shekhar Singh had told reporters that a team of the special operations group had recovered the body after questioning Rajol Singh, PTI reported.
“The body was buried in the plot near the ashram [hermitage]...We used local intelligence and mobile surveillance to identify the spot where the body was buried,” the police official had said on Thursday.
Meanwhile Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Friday said it was an “unfortunate and grave” matter that the body was found at a plot owned by a Samajwadi Party leader.
“The family members had been expressing apprehension that the Samajwadi Party leader was involved in the woman’s [alleged] kidnapping and murder,” Mayawati wrote in a tweet. “The state government should ensure strict action against the culprit.”
Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, in a tweet, referred to an incident on January 24, when the deceased woman’s mother tried to set herself on fire in front of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s vehicle.
Maurya, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, accused Yadav of trying to protect his party leaders, and assured action against the perpetrators.
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