Kairana: Witness in gangrape and murder shot dead, police register case against six

Kairana, which was in the news earlier this year for the alleged exodus of Hindu families due to threats from a particular community, saw a witness in the gangrape and murder of a 35-year-old woman being shot on Monday. According to The Indian Express, 55-year-old Brahmpal Singh was a key witness in the gangrape and murder of a woman in Shamli district, where Kairana is located. Singh was reportedly shot dead when he was sleeping in his house, the police said. The report mentioned that Singh was the brother-in-law of the woman who was kidnapped on 4 April who was found murdered three days later. This incident was highlighted by BJP MP Hukum Singh who then claimed that it led to the forced migration of Hindu families from Kairana. [caption id=“attachment_2844554” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In June this year, BJP MP Hukum Singh released a list of 346 Hindu families, who he claimed had left their homes and fled because of “threat and extortion by criminal elements belonging to a particular community”. Political parties such as the Congress and Samajwadi Party, slammed BJP for trying to stoke communal tension in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the state Assembly elections. On 10 June, the  National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to the Akhilesh Yadav government on Friday, seeking a response. The NHRC observed that the allegations made were serious and also directed the state’s DIG (Investigation) to depute a team of officers for a spot inquiry in the matter covering all the allegations made in the complaint and submit a report within two weeks. The complaint noted that a woman belonging to the Kashyap caste was abducted, gangraped and killed, but no action was taken by the police against the offenders. The complaint also stated that in 2014, two businessmen and brothers, Shankar and Raju, were shot dead in broad daylight at a market, when they refused to  pay ‘protection money’ to a Muslim gang, the complaint also noted, according to a report in the Hindustan Times. The late Brahmpal Singh’s brother, Ramesh named six people in his complaint, of which two were related to the accused in the gangrape and murder case, The Indian Express report mentioned, which added that MP Hukum Singh would visit the spot after the Parliament session. The police have also registered a case of murder against the six named in the complaint. After Hukum Singh’s allegations, the Uttar Pradesh government ordered a probe on the same. The NHRC found that the exodus was indeed a reality and that many families “migrated” from Kairana due to threats relating to “increase in crime” and “deterioration” of law-and-order situation. Based on the findings, the commission sent a notice to the chief secretary and director general of police of the state to submit an action taken report, on the observations and recommendations of the team within eight weeks.