LUCKNOW: A 22-year-old Dalit woman of Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh, missing for more than a month, was found buried on the premises of an ashram belonging to a former state minister in the previous Samajwadi government.
The late MLA, Fateh Bahadur Singh, and his son are being looked at as the main accused in the case.
The discovery of the decomposed body, bang in the middle of the UP election, has left Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav smarting under attacks from the BJP and the BSP. Unnao district is even otherwise infamous for incidents of heinous crimes against women.
According to the police, Rajoul Singh, the son of the former minister, allegedly killed her and buried her on the premises of the Divyanand Ashram, situated on the banks of river Ganga.
Two months back the mother of the deceased had accused the son of kidnapping her daughter. However, the police, instead of taking any action, only registered a ‘missing person’ case. The distraught mother, Rita Singh, on January 24, tried to jump in front of the convoy of former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to highlight her plight.
After this, the police swung into action and arrested the accused Rajoul Singh. During investigation, the accused admitted to having killed the girl, it is claimed.
The autopsy report of the deceased has revealed that she was strangulated. The post-mortem report also showed that her neck was broken. The police claim the case appeared to be one of an affair gone awry.
Facing political flak, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav told ANI: The person who they are saying belongs to the Samajwadi Party died four years ago. The police should answer why it took them so long to act in the matter. We are with the victim's family. We are with her mother and her demand should be met."
For the Yogi government, this is political fodder in election season. "Akhilesh Yadav, a Dalit daughter's body has been found from a Samajwadi Party leader's land. You didn't listen to the girl's mother when she was begging in front of your car. You are shielding your party leader. You will shield every crime of Samajwadi Party leaders. You will leave no stone unturned to help the accused," tweeted Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, the number two in the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government.
