Woman says 'No' to marriage proposal, gangraped, murdered

A 23-year-old woman was abducted, gang-raped and her brutally mutilated body dumped at a place where dogs bit off it, following which the police have arrested two men, including one who they claimed was her "jilted lover". The horrifying crime, which occurred just days after the Supreme Court held that the culprits in the 'Nirbhaya' gang rape case will hang, prompted Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to assert that the issue of women's safety needs to be revisited. The victim's family said that nobody from the Government visited their home or offered any assistance.

Earlier, a passerby had noticed the body of the victim in the Urban Estate area of Rohtak on Thursday. Stray dogs had bitten off the face and lower portion of her body, police officials said.

The woman, learnt to be a divorcee, had been kidnapped from Sonipat on May 9 and taken to Rohtak in a car, police said. The victim's parents had lodged a missing complaint at the Sonipat police station.

According to Sonipat police, sub-inspector, Ajay Malik, it appeared that the victim was raped first and then the suspects hit her with a brick, smashing her face. She had grievous head injuries, the police official added.

"Two persons, Sumit and Vikas, have been arrested in this connection," Maliksaid adding that both were sent to two-day police remand by a court here today. Sumit, who was an acquaintance of the victim, had allegedly been pressuring her to marry him, police said.

Both accused have been booked under relevant sections including 302 (murder) of IPC and investigations are on, a police official said. The sheer brutality of the crime is reminiscent of the 'Nirbhaya' incident in Delhi, which triggered nation-wide outrage. In a recent order, the Supreme Court had held that 'Nirbhaya' killers will hang to death.

Following the incident in Haryana, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday expressed deep shock and outrage over the brutal gang rape-and-murder of the young woman in Rohtak and highlighted the need for "revisiting" the issue of women safety.