Brick kiln contractor’s daughter, wife booked for abetting suicide of U.P. gangrape victim’s father

A 50yearold man was found dead under mysterious circumstances in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur district, a week after his daughter and niece – aged 14 and 16 – were found dead in a field after being were allegedly gangraped, the police said on Thursday.

“Rakesh Nishad, resident of a village under the Sisolar police station limits in Hamirpur district, was found dead on Wednesday under unknown circumstances. The body has been sent for postmortem. We are initiating action on the basis of a complaint lodged by his son,” Hamirpur Superintendent of Police Deeksha Sharma said.

According to Rakesh’s kin, he died allegedly by suicide following threats by the family of the alleged rapists. The family members of the girls had alleged that the minors were gangraped before their deaths by brick kiln contractor Ramroop Nishad, (48), his son Raju (18) and nephew Sanjay (19). “He was under pressure to withdraw the complaint in the gangrape case,” one of the kin said. An FIR has been registered on the complaint of the son, accusing the wife and the daughter of the brick kiln contractor of pressuring Rakesh to withdraw the complaint and abetting his suicide. The gangrape incident came to light when the two girls went missing on February 28 and hours later, their bodies were found 400 metres from a brick kiln in Kanpur district, according to the police. The girls and their families worked at a brick kiln owned by the contractor. The police said the victims and accused hailed from the same village in adjoining Hamirpur. The accused had also made a video of the act, which was recovered during the probe, the police had earlier said, adding that the three accused were arrested the same day.

Opposition leaders targeted the State government over the incident. “In U.P., if victimised girls ask for justice, it has become a rule to destroy their families. From Unnao, Hathras to Kanpur wherever women were tortured, their families were also being destroyed,” Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra posted on X.

Those in distress may contact Sanjivini, Society for Mental Health suicide prevention helpline 01140769002.