Double murder rocks Ratauli

Two sisters were brutally murdered in front of their mother by three assailants in Banthra’s Ratauli village on the city outskirts here on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, police said.

The assailants slit throats of Rekha,21, and Savita,19, with sharp-edged weapons after holding the mother captive.

The assailants, however, spared the girls’ father, Ram Khelawan Prajapati, mother Usha, brother Santosh Kumar and his wife Gyanwati. The girls’ elder brother Ayodhya, who works in a dhaba, was not present in the house at the time of the incident which happened at around 1 am when the entire family was sleeping.

Usha told police that the assailants barged into the house when she along with her two daughters was sleeping on the first floor. Ram Khelawan, Santosh, who is a disabled and Gyanwati were sleeping on the ground floor.

She said the assailants first held her captive after climbing on the first floor and attacked her elder daughter, who was sleeping outside the room.

“After killing Rekha, the trio entered the room and hacked Savita to death,” she said.

Usha told police that she could not shout as the assailants were holding her. The assailants had also locked the room in which her son and his wife were sleeping, she said. Other members of the family learnt about the incident when Usha came down shouting for help. Arjun, a local who woke up after listening the family’s scream, called the police.

When informed, senior police officials including SP Rajesh Pandey rushed to the spot. A team of forensic experts and dog squad was also called to the crime scene but no breakthrough was made, police said.

Police have registered an FIR against unknown assailants and further investigation into the incident was on.