By Scroll Staff
A 22-year-old man allegedly killed a Dalit woman and abducted her daughter in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district earlier this week, PTI reported.
The killing and abduction allegedly took place on Thursday morning in the Kapsad village. The 20-year-old daughter was rescued from Haridwar in Uttarakhand on Saturday, the Hindustan Times reported.
The crime sparked protests from opposition leaders, due to which additional security personnel were deployed in the area.
The police alleged that a man named Paras Som and his aides attacked the woman with a sharp-edged sugarcane-cutting weapon when she was trying to shield her daughter. The men subsequently fled with the daughter, while her 45-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries, according to the Hindustan Times.
Som worked as a compounder for a local doctor, and lived in the same village as the woman. The police have not yet ascertained the motive for his alleged actions.
Senior Superintendent of Police Vipin Tada said that the 20-year-old woman has been rescued, and the main accused man has been arrested, the Hindustan Times reported. Both of them were being brought to Meerut, the official said.
The family of the woman was given a compensation cheque of Rs 10 lakh from the chief minister’s office. The authorities were also considering giving them an arms licence considering their security concerns, PTI quoted District Magistrate VK Singh as saying.
The 45-year-old woman was cremated late on Friday evening after hours of negotiations between her family and officials. Earlier, the family had refused to conduct the last rites, demanding that the accused men be arrested and action be taken against their allegedly illegal properties.
The 45-year-old woman’s death sparked protests, during which members of the Bhim Army demanded the immediate arrest of the accused, leading to brief altercations with the police, PTI reported.
On Saturday, Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman and other members of the party were stopped at a toll booth while they were on their way Meerut, the Hindustan Times reported. This sparked protests and led to the Rapid Action Force being deployed. The MP and his supporters were later convinced by the police to return.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati described the crime as “extremely heartbreaking, shameful and worrisome”.
She called on the government to take crimes against women seriously and ensure strict action against those responsible.
This story was originally published in scroll.in.