A Dalit woman's tale: Raped by BSP leader's son, arrested by UP cops, now dead

A 20-year-old Dalit woman died of injuries after being arrested for the fourth time on 29 April in a case in which she had alleged that Gurdeep, son of Uttar Pradesh BSP leader Mahendra Katiyar, kidnapped and raped her on 1 December, 2014.

According to her father, when she went to register a complaint against Gurdeep at Kamalgunj police station, the police refused to do so. "They drove my daughter out, telling her to bring me along. They never registered a case against Gurdeep," said her father.

Four hours after the woman approached the police, Gurdeep lodged a complaint against her, alleging that she had stolen two cellphones, a pistol and a wallet from him. The woman was arrested an hour later and sent to prison, says the Hindustan Times.

Though she got bail in March, she was arrested again under the gangster act because the police said she was a "lady don", affiliated to a gangster.

When she approached the court on 14 July, 2015, to file a rape complaint against Gurdeep and an unidentified man, the police registered a case, but arrested her for a third time, charging her with intimidation and blackmail.

With the help of social activist Sanjeeba, the woman then met Kanpur DIG Neelabja Chowdhary on 29 April this year, and said in a written complaint: "I have been sent to jail three times in my fight for justice. Please ensure a fair investigation in the case."

But when Chowdhary ordered an inquiry, the police arrested her on the charge of possessing 500 grams of the narcotic charas.

A friend of the woman said: "She was brutally tortured in police custody. When her condition deteriorated, they took her to the magistrate's house around midnight to place her in judicial remand. But she could not be sent to jail ... So police took her to LLR Hospital in Kanpur."

According to the police, the woman was injured when she jumped out of a moving jeep. But they did not explain why she was produced before a magistrate at night.

"She had an injury on the right side of the head and the front that led to clotting in the brain and swelling," said neurosurgeon Gajendra Singh. She died of her injuries on Monday.

According to Kamalgunj SHO Saligram Verma, on 26 April, the woman had tried to threaten him into releasing two arrested criminals. "I have the recording of that conversation. I got a case registered on 29 April and arrested her the same day. She was produced before the ADJ that night and remanded in judicial custody for 14 days. However, she jumped from the official jeep near the police lines and suffered fatal injuries," he said.