In a suspected case of rape and murder, the body of a missing woman was found lying in a field in Bijnor, police said on Wednesday.
The cops sent the body for post-mortem and were waiting for the autopsy report before starting investigation. However, the family of the victim alleged that she was sexually assaulted and later murdered to conceal the crime.
According to the police, the victim, identified as Kumkum, a resident of Kotwali Dehat area of the district, had gone out to collect fodder from a field on Tuesday morning. When she did not return home till the evening, the family launched a search for her and after failing to trace her out, they filed a `missing’ complaint to the local police.
Later in the night, some local villager spotted a body lying in a secluded place. The clothes of the victim were torn and the body had injury marks, suggesting that she was raped before being murdered.
In another incident, a seven-year-old boy was sexually assaulted and then killed in a village in Hussainganj area of Fatehpur district. His face was smashed, apparently to conceal his identity.
Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar Singh said that the body of the child was recovered from a secluded place on Tuesday evening. He said that the child went missing at about 3 pm on Monday and police were informed after he did not return home. A search was launched by the police and villagers during which they saw a hand on the lawn of a secluded house. After digging the area, the child's body was taken out, Singh said.
There was no cloth on the body and the face was smashed badly to hide the identity.
The body was sent for a post-mortem and all attempts were being made to identify the miscreants and arrest them.
In Muzaffarnagar, a 10-year-old mentally challenged girl was allegedly raped by a youth in a village under New Mandi police station of the district.
Giving this information on Wednesday, the police said that the accused was absconding and a search was on for him.
The complaint filed by the girl's family said that on Tuesday evening, the accused took the girl, who was playing outside the house, to a nearby field on the pretext of giving her something, and raped her.
Police said that some women reached the spot after hearing the cries of the minor and found the accused in a compromising position with the girl.
According to police officer Himanshu Gaurav, the police registered a case against a youth and sent the girl for medical examination. He said a search was on for the accused.