In a shocking incident, a woman allegedly killed her seven-year-old stepdaughter in Bareilly district, police said on Sunday.
The incident took place on Friday night in Bahedi area of the district. The deceased was identified as Rashmi. The girl's father, Ghanshyam, is a labourer and his wife died three years ago due to illness. Recently, Ghanshyam married a widow. She brought her four-year-old son and one-year-old daughter along with her. The woman has been identified as Bharti Devi.
The woman strangled the seven-year-old girl to death as she was reportedly not happy with Ghanshyam. The girl's father told police that his second wife was jealous of the seven-year-old girl as he loved his daughter.
Devi murdered the girl when she was sleeping.
"We have registered an FIR against one Bharti Devi (33) on the complaint of her husband Ghanshyam for allegedly murdering their minor daughter. Ghanshyam told us that Bharti had confessed to have killed their daughter and the circumstantial evidence suggests the same," Circle Officer Tejveer Singh said.
An FIR has been registered against the 33-year-old woman under sections of murder. The girl's body was sent for post-mortem and its report is still awaited. The police have launched a detailed investigation into the matter.
Meanwhile, a travelling ticket examiner (TTE) has been suspended from service and arrested for allegedly gang-raping a 32-year-old woman along with his accomplice in the AC coach of Link Express on January 16, according to police.
The woman was accompanied by her two-year-old son and was also known to the accused, they added.
Efforts are on to trace the co-accused.
A complaint in this connection was filed by the woman at a Government Railway Police (GRP) station in Sambhal district on Saturday, following which TTE Raju Singh, 40, was suspended, officers added. The TTE was produced before the railway magistrate and sent to judicial custody.
According to the police, the woman and her son were waiting for Link Express at the railway station on the night of January 16 when the TTE told her that she would be allowed to sit in the AC coach as it would be difficult for her to travel in the general coach with her son. The woman knew Singh for the last four years, officers said.
As per the FIR, at around 9:30 pm, the TTE and another person came into the coach and asked her to have some food, which she refused. The TTE then gave her water, which consumed. The water was laced with sedatives because I fell unconscious. The TTE and his accomplice raped me on the moving train. They also shifted my son, who was fast asleep, to another berth. I tried to scream when the rape happened, but I seemed to have lost my voice because of being under the influence of sedatives,” the woman said.
The woman reached her destination on the morning of January 17, but did not tell anyone about the incident. Upon arriving home on January 20, she revealed the incident to her husband and they lodged a complaint at the railway helpline number, following which an FIR was registered against the TTE and his accomplice at the railway police station on Saturday.
Aparna Gupta, SP (Railways), reached the spot soon after and recorded the woman's statement. She also informed higher railway officials about the incident. A GRP team raided the TTE's house on Saturday and arrested him.
“The TTE has been arrested, while the woman was taken for medical examination, the report of which is yet to come,” the SP (Railways) said.
Raju Singh was immediately suspended after we were informed about his involvement in the incident,' said Sudhir Singh, Divisional Commercial Manager.
The in-charge of the GRP station said efforts were underway to trace the accomplice. “We are yet to interrogate the TTE and determine the identity of the co-accused,” the officer said.