A day after the body of a rape victim's 50-year-old father was found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district, the police on Thursday filed an FIR against the mother and sister of one of the rape accused on charges of abetment of suicide. In his complaint, the deceased's son alleged that the man took the step to end his life following threats from the family of the rape accused. The body of the 50-year-old was handed over to his family on Thursday and his last rites were conducted later in the day. A case has been lodged under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code at the local police station. No arrest was made in the case till the filing of the report. “We have received the victim's post-mortem report that states that the death occurred due to hanging. An investigation in this matter is underway,” said Hamirpur Circle Officer Shriyas Tripathi. On February 28, the 50-year-old deceased man's teenaged daughter and a distant relative, also a teenager, were found hanging from a tree with dupattas in the neighbouring Kanpur district where their families had gone in search of work. Their families told the police that the girls died by suicide hours after allegedly being "raped and filmed” by the son and nephew, aged 19 and 20, of a contractor (48) from their native village. The police then arrested the three who were sent to jail. While the two youths were charged with rape and abetment to suicide, the contractor was booked for abetting suicide. In his complaint, the rape victim's brother filed an FIR against the 43-year-old wife and 18-year-old daughter of the accused contractor. He alleged that since the rape incident, the two women had gone underground. "On March 5, the contractor's wife came to the village and pressured my father to withdraw the case. The two threatened my father with implicating in a false case if he did not comply. Since their return, my father was under stress and told me that they would either get him killed or implicate him in a false case," said the complainant. He said that on Wednesday, his father went to the thickets and they later found him hanging from a tree. Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi on Thursday hit out at the state government over the incident. “In Uttar Pradesh, if victimised girls and women ask for justice it has become a rule to destroy their families. From Unnao, Hathras to Kanpur — wherever women were tortured, their families were destroyed. Being a woman has become a crime in this jungle raj where there is no such thing as law left," Gandhi wrote in a post on X. "After all, what should crores of women of the state do, where should they go?" she asked. — With PTI inputs
