Badaun accused sent to judicial custody A local court on Friday remanded the key

accused in the Budaun gang rape and murder case in judicial custody till January 18. The 53-year-old accused was arrested late on Thursday. “The priest (main accused) has been sent to judicial custody till January 18. The other two accused had already been arrested and sent to jail,” Vijay Yadav, assistant prosecution officer, CJM court, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. The 50-year-old was gangraped and murdered by a priest and his two aides in Uttar Pradesh’s Budaun district on Jan 3. According to the FIR lodged by the woman’s family, she went to a temple on January 3 and did not return. That night, the priest and his aides allegedly gang-raped and killed her. Later, they brought her body to her house and told the family that she fell into a well.

THE ACCUSED WAS ABSCONDING FOR FOUR DAYS AND WAS ARRESTED LATE ON THURSDAY

A local court on Friday remanded the key accused in the Badaun gang rape and murder case in judicial custody till January 18. The 53-year-old accused, who was in hiding for four days, was arrested late on Thursday.

“The priest (main accused) has been sent to judicial custody till January 18. The other two accused had already been arrested and sent to jail,” Vijay Yadav, Assistant Prosecution Officer, CJM Court, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

A 50-year-old anganwadi worker was gang-raped and murdered by a temple priest and his two aides in Uttar Pradesh’s Budaun district on January 3.

According to the FIR lodged by the woman’s family members, she went to a temple located on the outskirts of her village on the afternoon of January 3 and did not return.

The same night, the three accused allegedly gang-raped the woman, fractured her leg and ribcage, before leaving her bleeding to die. Later, they brought her body to her house and told the family that she fell into a dry well on the temple premises. The post-mortem report has confirmed rape, a rib fracture and damage to the left lung due to heavy force.

The two accomplices, Jai Pal alias Jaspal and Vedram Pal, were arrested under charges of gang rape and murder on January 5, while the priest remained absconding for four days. He also had a bounty of ₹50,000 on his head. Police nabbed Satya Narain (53), the priest, from the fields in a village in Ughaiti area of Badaun.

Narain, however, allegedly kept changing his statements before the police.

“Satya Narain avoided giving direct answers to the questions related to the incident. He changed his statements a couple of times. Our focus now is to question the three accused individually about the sequence of events on the day of the incident,” said a police officer.