UP: Deaf-mute woman kidnapped, gang-raped near SP’s residence, CCTV cameras were off

Balrampur: A deaf and mute woman was allegedly kidnapped and gangraped just meters away from the homes of Balrampur’s top district officials, in an area supposedly under constant surveillance.

Shockingly, several CCTV cameras in the vicinity — part of the state’s high-profile Operation Trinetra — were found switched off at the time of the assault.

Police say the woman, returning from her maternal uncle’s home, was dragged into a deserted field by two men who took turns raping her. Unable to call for help due to her disability, she lay stranded until her family, alarmed when she did not return within an hour, began searching.

They found her in a distressed condition in a field near a police outpost.

She was rushed to the district women’s hospital, where doctors say she is stable but deeply traumatised.

Within 24 hours, police arrested the accused — identified as Ankur Verma and Harshit Pandey — after an encounter in which both suffered injuries.

“Based on CCTV footage and other evidence, we zeroed in on the suspects. They have confessed to the crime,” said Superintendent of Police Vikash Kumar.

Both are undergoing treatment under custody.

Political parties have slammed the Yogi Adityanath government’s claims of improved law and order in Uttar Pradesh.

In a post on X, the All India Trinamool Congress shared harrowing visuals from Balrampur, showing a 21-year-old specially-abled woman running desperately to escape bike-borne men chasing her along a deserted road.

The clip captures her passing right in front of a senior police officer’s residence, yet no one intervenes. She was later kidnapped and raped.

The party accused the BJP’s so-called “Double Engine” government of allowing such atrocities to thrive, where women’s cries go unheard,

predators act without fear, and police remain inactive or complicit.

It alleged that under Yogi Adityanath, Uttar Pradesh has turned into a “graveyard for women.” The post also called out BJP leaders for hypocrisy, asking how they could lecture Bengal on women’s safety while ignoring “blood-stained” realities in their own state.

The party demanded that the UP government address its own law and order crisis before offering moral sermons to others.

The incident has thrown a harsh spotlight on Operation Trinetra, a state-wide network of CCTV cameras meant to deter crime and ensure swift police response.

The victim’s family alleges the assault was enabled by negligence, claiming three to four cameras in the area were switched off — including some near the SP’s residence.