Key witness in Kairana gang rape and murder shot dead

MEERUT: Brahmpal Kashyap, a

key witness in the gang rape

and

murder of a Dalit woman

relative from a

Kairana village

, was

shot dead

at his house in the early hours of Monday. The gang rape and murder, which had happened on April 4, had been highlighted by BJP MP Hukum Singh. Later the

National Human Rights Commission

(NHRC) had mentioned the shoddiness of the police investigation in its report on September 21 on the alleged exodus of Hindu families from Kairana. According to sources, he had been pursuing the gang rape and murder case in the weeks prior to his own death.

The 40-year-old woman had been allegedly gang-raped by four men from another community on April 4. Her body had been found near the Yamuna three days later. Kashyap, her brother-in-law was the main witness in the case. Unidentified men allegedly barged into his house in Akbarpur Sunheti village in the early hours of Monday and shot him dead.

In the days following the woman’s gang rape and murder, Hukum Singh had mentioned the incident as yet another example of the prevalent situation in Kairana, which was forcing Hindus to emigrate. The NHRC’s report on the alleged exodus had said that the police investigation into the crime had been shoddy and symptomatic of the deteriorating law-and-order situation in the area.

“Akbarpur Sunheti has been severely affected by continuing exodus of Hindus. I might be compelled to bring the rest of the community to a safer place. I want to see how the police acts in the matter. Earlier, after the rape and murder, instead of arresting the actual culprits, police framed the women’s relatives in the crime,” alleged Hukum Singh, talking to TOI.

Ambika Prasad Bhardwaj, station officer of Kairana police station, said, “We have received a complaint from Ramesh Kashyap, younger brother of the deceased, and a case has been registered against six men — Mustafa Ahmad, Mohd Amjad, Sabdar Ali, Maulana Mehsar, Sufiyan and Parvez — all residents of Kairana. The accused have been charged under section 302 (murder) of the IPC and all of them are absconding.”

Rampal Kashyap, uncle of the deceased, said, “On Sunday night, Brahmpal had slept in the cowshed along with his 11-year-old son as there were some visitors at his home. In the early morning when his wife went there, she found him lying in a pool of blood. He had been shot in the head. Even his son did not have any idea about what happened at night.”

However, Ramesh Kashyap, Brahmpal’s brother, said he saw some men at night and filed a police complaint on the basis of that. Later, Brahmpal’s neighbour Mange Ram also came forward and said the incident happened at 1:30 am as his wife had heard some sound and opened their door, but did not find anything.