A day after an 18-year-old Dalit woman’s body was recovered from a well in Rajasthan’s Karauli district, the police on Friday filed a case of murder and gang-rape, The Indian Express reported.
Opposition leaders held protests in the district, alleging that the police handled the case insensitively and initially tried to cover up the matter.
The victim’s body was found in a well on the Bhilpada road in the Hindaun city on Thursday. She was identified as a resident of Karauli’s Mohanpura village, according to PTI.
The police initially said that the woman appeared to have died by drowning and registered an unnatural death case under the Code of Criminal Procedure.
Principal Medical Officer Pushpendra Gupta said that a post-mortem examination was carried out at the Hindaun government hospital between 5 pm and 7 pm on Thursday. However, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kirodi Lal Meena later reached the spot and sat on a protest with the woman’s family, calling for another autopsy.
A second post-mortem examination was then conducted on Thursday night. Gupta said that the second examination was recorded on video at the instance of the family.
“There was a firearm injury in the chest, face and hands were burnt, as if from acid, and the body was checked for rape,” the principal medical officer said, according to The Indian Express. “While firearm injury is confirmed – a bullet was retrieved from the body – the other two can be confirmed only after the preserved samples have been analysed.”
Gupta claimed that officials told the family about the bullet injury, the acid attack and the possibility of rape after the first post-mortem itself.
Based on a complaint by the woman’s mother, the police filed a case against unknown accused persons under Sections 302 (murder), 376D (gang-rape), 326A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid), 363 (kidnapping) and 366 (kidnapping or abducting a woman to compel her marriage or to cause defilement) of the Indian Penal Code.
Karauli Superintendent of Police Mamta Gupta said that the cause of death appeared to be the gunshot wound. She added that forensic experts will provide their opinion on allegations of rape based on their examination, according to PTI.
The superintendent of police said that officials will also investigate the family’s allegations that they were threatened by the police when they went to file a first information report.
Kirodi Lal Meena claimed that the police did not bring the forensic team to the scene of the crime, and accused the police of negligence.
BJP MP Diya Kumari, who also met the victim’s relatives, said that the police and the administration showed an insensitive attitude towards the family. “Swift and strict action should be taken,” she said.
Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said that the Dalit woman’s death was heart-wrenching and that the circumstances of the case were suspicious. “The administration should investigate the matter from every angle and strict action should be taken against the culprits,” she said on Twitter.
Congress MLA Sachin Pilot said that the administration should carry out an in-depth investigation into the case and ensure the strictest punishment for the culprits.
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