Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered the setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case of rape attempt and murder of a national-level Kho-Kho player in Bijnor on September 10.
The development came a day after the Bijnor police said that the rape and murder of the Kho Kho player had been worked out.
The victim's family alleged that the 24-year-old athlete was raped and killed, while the police said that it was a case of murder after the rape attempt was foiled by the victim. The family of the Dalit girl, who was killed and brutalised while she was on her way home after attending a job interview, met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during an event in Bijnor on Tuesday to seek a re-investigation.
"The chief minister promised them protection and sanctioned Rs 5 lakh for the family of the deceased," said DIG, Moradabad Range, Shalabh Mathur, adding that following demands of the victim’s family, an SIT has been formed to investigate the case.
The Bijnor police had earlier said it had worked out the crime. A rope, a shirt with two missing buttons, and a slipper had led them to a daily wage labourer who lived near the train tracks where the woman's body was found. The police had also claimed that the suspect, Shahjad (26), had confessed to his crime. The police had then said that it was an attempt to rape and the autopsy report had only found evidence of murder and no other crime.
Based on the complaint of the woman's father, the FIR still mentions rape charges along with those of murder, concealing evidence, and offences punishable with life or another imprisonment.
But the woman's family contradicted the police saying that when the victim’s body was found, her clothes had been pulled down. The victim’s father had said, "She was a sportsperson. She was strong. It is difficult to believe that one man, a supposed drug addict, overpowered her by himself. More men could have been present. Her phone is still missing. The girl was on a call when she was attacked, her cries and screams were recorded by her friend on the other side.”