A 24-year-old Dalit woman, who was a former national champion in kho-kho, was brutally murdered in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor on Friday. The family members had alleged that she was sexually assaulted too.
The woman was strangled to death even as she tried to fight off her assailants, according to The Quint.
The body of the woman was found lying injured in the middle of railway sleepers near the railway station in Bijnor.
The victim, a resident of Kutiya Colony, had left her home on Friday morning to submit a biodata in a school. When her family dialed her number, her phone was switched off, Mirror Now reported. She was in a semi-conscious state and died a few hours later. Her purse, documents, and tiffin box were found next to her.
The woman from a Dalit family had taken part in the 2016 national Kho-Kho championship in Maharashtra. During her studies, she had also played in various inter-university championships.
Her sister said she was to get married in November.
“We rushed to the spot when we came to know that someone had been found in an injured state. The ground beneath our feet shifted when we realised it’s her. Someone had tightly wound a dupatta around her neck. She could not make it. She had other injuries as well. She is a sportswoman and she must have attempted to fight back. It also appears that there was more than one person involved in it. I believe that she was raped as well,” said the victim’s sister to Indian Express.
A police complaint was immediately lodged by her family.
The Quint reported that the family faced resistance from the police while filing the complaint.
The complaint was finally registered on Friday night, after which the police conducted an investigation of the crime scene. A First Information Report (FIR) has been filed for murder, assault, and molestation against unknown accused. No arrests have been made yet.
“The local police have begun their investigation into the case and four teams have been formed. The woman was found by a passer-by and she had injuries on her body. Rape has been ruled out as per medical examination. With regards to motive and other aspects of the crime, more can be determined once the accused are identified and arrested,” said Bijnor SP Dharm Veer Singh, to the newspaper.
This story first appeared on maktoobmedia.com