Three of the five people accused of burning a woman alive after allegedly raping her in Sambhal district's Rajpura area have been arrested, the police said today.
The woman was allegedly burnt alive inside the premises of a temple after she was raped by five people in her house on Saturday.
"Three of the five accused in the case have been arrested," ADG, Bareilly Zone, Prem Prakash, said.
When asked about the motive behind the killing and alleged gang rape, he said, "During initial probe, the accused have denied their involvement in the case. It might be a case of some dispute, but nothing can be said at this moment. The probe is on."
"As far as the complaint made on 'Dial 100' (by the victim) is concerned, the call details of the number are being collected and we are waiting for it. Apart from this, investigations, so far, revealed that as of now, no call was made from this number," Prakash told reporters.
Circle Officer, Gunnaur, Aqil Ahmad, said that the accused were relatives of the 30-year-old victim.
According to a complaint lodged by the victim's husband, the incident took place on Saturday around 2.30 am when the woman was in her house with her daughter.
Five people barged into the house and raped her, police officials said.
The accused then dragged her to a hut inside the premises of a temple and burnt her alive, Ahmad said quoting the complaint.
The hut, where the woman was burnt alive, was used to perform 'yagna and havan'.
Superintendent of Police R M Bharadwaj, had yesterday said that post-mortem of the victim could not confirm whether she was raped.
"Whether she was raped or gang raped could not be ascertained in the post-mortem. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Moradabad, has been asked to ascertain it and the required samples will be sent to them," he had said.
In his complaint, the victim's husband alleged that after she was gang raped, his wife called her cousin to inform about the incident, but by the time the police could be contacted, the accused returned and dragged her to the hut and burnt her alive.
An FIR has been registered against five people under IPC sections 376 D (gang rape), 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapons) and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), a police official said.
Police are conducting searches to arrest two other accused.
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