Noida family robbed in UP's Bulandshahr, woman and her teen daughter raped
Three days after a woman and her teen daughter were gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr after being dragged away from their car, their family has threatened to commit suicide if the accused aren't punished.
"We were looted, beaten up and we all know what they did to my daughter... These men need to be punished within three months, else I, my wife and daughter will commit suicide," the family said this evening.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav today confronted opposition demands for his resignation as his deadline for arrests has come and gone with some of the accused still missing.
"If you can't manage UP, then resign as chief minister on moral grounds," said former UP chief Minster Mayawati, demanding a "personal explanation" from Mr Yadav.
"The Chief Minister should be held accountable," said the BJP's Meenakshi Lekhi.
Mr Yadav on Sunday gave his police force 24 hours to arrest all the accused and also formed a 300-member task force.
Three have been arrested but at least three men remain missing.
"We suspect there are five-six men in total. The leader has been identified and has a history of crime in UP, Rajasthan and Haryana," said senior police officer Laxmi Singh.
On Friday, a family from Noida near Delhi was travelling on the highway when an iron rod hit the car, forcing the driver to stop.
A gang of six men took over the car at gunpoint and drove it to a swamp. The men robbed the family, tied up the men and dragged the 35-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter, took them to the bushes and gang-raped them for three hours, the police say.
The women were rescued by the police hours later around 5.30 am.
The incident took place barely 100 meters from a police post but no one heard any shouts for help. Four police officers were suspended yesterday.
"This incident is very sad, shameful and heinous because if the police cannot help in such cases it signals that the law and order situation in UP is in bad shape and the common people do not feel safe in the state," said Sheila Dikshit, the Congress' chief ministerial candidate for the UP election.