A Dalit woman was allegedly gangraped and murdered in Rajasthan’s Bikaner district, the police said on Wednesday, PTI reported.
Her body was found in the district’s Khajuwala area on Tuesday.
The woman’s family members accused three persons, including two constables from the Khajuwala police station – Manoj Kumar and Bhagirath – of raping her, Inspector General of Police Om Prakash said. “Both the policemen have been suspended immediately and the matter is being investigated,” he added.
The third accused person, said to be the key culprit, is absconding, the Hindustan Times reported.
The police, citing call records, said that the main accused person and the woman knew each other.
The woman’s relatives have refused to allow a postmortem examination of the body. They held a protest demanding that the accused persons be immediately arrested.
Superintendent of Police Tejaswani Gautam said that efforts were being made to persuade the family to conduct the postmortem examination.
Rajasthan Leader of Opposition Rajendra Rathore said it was unfortunate that the accused constables had not yet been arrested.
“In the name of action, a mere formality of suspending the constables has been carried out,” he remarked on Twitter. “...If police officials themselves attack the honour of sisters and daughters, who will protect women?”
Rathore said the alleged involvement of policemen was a blot on the face of the government.
State minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas said that the police were looking into the matter and would take action against the guilty.
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