The station house officer (SHO) of Saiyadraja police station in Chandauli district has been suspended after a 21-year-old girl died after she was allegedly assaulted by policemen during a raid.
The police, however, denied the allegation saying the woman appeared to have committed suicide.
The alleged incident took place on Sunday when the police raided the house of gangster Kanhaiya Yadav in Manrajpur village to arrest him after a non-bailable warrant was issued against him. Yadav has been accused in a case of illegal sand mining.
However, as the police officials could not find Yadav at his home, they allegedly tried to take his brother with them. Yadav's daughter, Nisha, tried to stop the police, following which she was allegedly beaten by the officers.
In a video widely shared on social media, a woman can be seen saying that her elder sister was killed by the police. On being asked if she had also been beaten up, the woman replied in the affirmative.
Superintendent of Police Ankur Agarwal, however, denied all the allegations and said, "At 4:30 pm, a police team went to conduct a raid for arresting Kanhaiya Yadav against whom a non-bailable warrant has been issued. The police team had female constables with it and a video of the action is also available. When the accused was not found, the police team returned."
"At 6 pm, a video surfaced and we were informed that a girl had died. A team led by ASP will investigate the matter. Prima facie, it seems that the girl died of some family reasons or committed suicide. However, we will go with the post-mortem report and if any police personnel is found guilty strict action will be taken against him," the SP said.
The girl’s family members have alleged that she was raped, a charge yet to be confirmed by police. The girl was to get married next month, the SP said.
Agarwal said on getting information about the incident, villagers surrounded the police team and thrashed constable Mukesh Kumar and home guard Chhavinath. As Chhavanath's condition was serious, he was referred to the Trauma Centre in Varanasi while Mukesh was being treated at the district hospital, he added.
A case of culpable homicide has been registered against six people, including SHO Uday Pratap Singh and four policewomen, on the complaint of the brother of the woman. The SHO has been suspended.
The SP said the post-mortem of the woman was performed by a panel of doctors and videographed. He said as the cause of death was not clear in the post-mortem report, her viscera had been preserved.
Regarding the allegation of rape, Agarwal said the post-mortem report did not find any external or internal injury on the whole body except a scratch on the throat and minor injury on the left side of the jaw.
"Still, the allegation of rape is being probed," he added.
He said the investigation into the matter had been handed over to an additional superintendent of police.
A large number of police and PAC personnel have been deployed in the village to maintain law and order.
Meanwhile, the deceased's sister alleged before media persons that police personnel beat her sister to death and then hanged her to make it look like a suicide.
Nisha Yadav's younger sister Gunja Yadav said that the police barged into their house on Sunday and thrashed them without providing any reason or warrant. She alleged that despite their protests, police officers of both sexes beat them.
"We protested. My sister ran inside and tried to bolt the door but they caught her and thrashed her. They bashed me up as well. My sister's screams for help suddenly stopped," Gunja said, adding that when she finally went inside the room her elder sister had run into, she saw Nisha hanging from the ceiling fan. “The noose was tied loosely around Nisha's neck and her feet were still brushing against the floor,” Gunja said, adding that she untied the noose, made with a saree, around her sister's neck and checked her breathing and pulse but by then Nisha was already dead.