Lucknow:
A woman who was found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh was gang-raped and then murdered by her attackers, alleges her family.
The killing has chilling similarities to that of two young girls who were gang-raped and then murdered two weeks ago in the Badaun district of the state. The girls, aged 14 and 15, were discovered hanging from a tree.
The new case took place on Tuesday night in the northern district of Bahraich, 130 kilometres from the state capital of Lucknow.
The woman's son says that she had recently complained to the police about the local liquor mafia.
She was headed to Lucknow when her son phoned her to return to their village to meet her new grandchild. He says when he went to pick her up from a pre-arranged spot, she was missing. Her cellphone was found near the guava tree where she was hanged with a sari, just a kilometre away from her house, the police said.
Three of the five people, named as suspects in the police complaint, have been arrested. They include the victim's brother-in-law who was part of the village hooch racket.
The autopsy report, however, hasn't confirmed rape. Results of pathological tests that conclusively confirm rape are still awaited. The police has also hinted at the possibility of suicide.
"Post-mortem suggests that these injuries are similar to those found in a case of suicide," said IK Mathur, Inspector General of Police.
The family, though, has demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Badaun case two weeks ago made international headlines.
The young girls were abducted and then attacked when they headed into the fields to relieve themselves.
Two policemen face accusations of being criminal accessories.
The families of the victims have said the police could have saved the girls, but claimed officers initially refused to help when they found out they were from a lower caste.