Kaushambi murder of rape victim: Main accused injured in police encounter, arrested
The accused, carrying a cash reward of ₹25,000 on his head, was arrested with a 315-bore country-made firearm and some live cartridges
Days after the murder of a 19-year-old rape survivor in a village in Mahewaghat area of Kaushambi district, the main accused, charged with the rape and later hacking to death the victim, was arrested after an encounter on Saturday, police said.
Pawan Nishad, who was out on bail when he committed the crime, sustained gunshot injuries in both legs in retaliatory action after he opened fire on the police who had surrounded him. The accused, carrying a cash reward of ₹25,000 on his head, was arrested with a 315-bore country-made firearm and some live cartridges. He has been admitted to the district hospital for treatment, said SP-Kaushambi Brijesh Kumar Srivastava.
On November 22, the police had arrested Ashok Nishad, another accused in the murder case, after an encounter in which he too had sustained a bullet injury on his leg.
Police said that Pawan was sent to jail for allegedly raping the 19-year-old woman of his village falling under the Mahewaghat police station area in May 2022.
The accused tried to put pressure on the victim for reconciliation after being released from jail on bail recently and when she refused, he, along with his three brothers - Ashok, Prabhu and Lokchand - allegedly killed her with an axe on November 20, the police said.
Personnel of the Special Operations Group (SOG) and the police team, acting on a tip off, surrounded the accused near the Yamuna river on Saturday morning. The accused, who was hiding there, opened fire at the police team forcing them to retaliate in self defence, injuring the accused in both legs, the SP-Kaushmabi Srivastava said.
Two of the accused - Prabhu and Lokchand - are still absconding and efforts are on to arrest them, he said.
The victim’s kin claimed that Pawan got bail around a fortnight before the murder following which he and his brother Ashok started pressuring the rape survivor for a compromise in the case. A complaint in this connection was made thrice at the police station but to no avail, they alleged.
On November 20, the woman and her sister-in-law again went to the police station to make a fresh complaint. They were returning home when accused Pawan Nishad, his brothers Ashok, Prabhu and Lokchand hacked her to death with an axe and then fled the scene.
An FIR was lodged against the four accused at Mahewaghat police station on the complaint of the victim’s sister-in-law.
