New Delhi:
A 19-year-old woman was hacked to death in broad daylight in Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi district by two brothers, including the man accused of raping her, police said Tuesday morning. Police said the killers – Ashok and Pawan Nishad – had been released on bail a few days before the brutal murder.
Police said the woman – butchered with an axe on the main road as scared villagers watched helplessly – had accused Pawan Nishad of raping her three years ago, when she was a minor.
According to local reports, Pawan Nishad (and his associates) had been harassing the woman and her family since the alleged rape, to get them to drop all charges.
Pawan’s brother, Ashok Nishad, is an accused in a separate murder case and was released less than two days before the young woman’s murder, police added. Pawan was out of jail by this time and the two plotted to confront the woman’s family and force them to close the case, police explained.
However, the young woman refused to back down, after which the brothers ambushed and slaughtered her as she was returning from grazing her family’s cattle at a nearby field, police said.
Pawan and Ashok Nishad are now on the run, police added.
“There was a dispute between two parties in the same community regarding an old rivalry and litigation… members of one party killed the girl with a sharp weapon. A police complaint was filed and the accused have been booked,” Kaushambi Superintendent of Police, Brijesh Srivastava, said.
थाना महेवाघाट के ढेरहा गांव मे एक ही बिरादरी के दो पक्षों के बीच में पुरानी रंजिश और मुकदमेबाजी को लेकर आपस में विवाद हुआ जिसमे एक पक्ष के लोगों द्वारा दूसरे पक्ष की 20 वर्षीय युवती की धारदार हथियार से हमला कर हत्या कर दी गई है। प्रकरण में पुलिस अधीक्षक कौशाम्बी द्वारा दी गई बाइट pic.twitter.com/ve8TBRw5jv
— KAUSHAMBI POLICE (@kaushambipolice) November 21, 2023
The horrific incident took place at the Dherha village in the Mahewaghat Police Station area.
The police have sent the young woman’s body for a post-mortem examination and have formed teams to track down and arrest the accused, Mr Srivastava added.