Lalitpur (Uttar Pradesh), July 16 (IANS) In a shocking incident of betrayal and sexual assault reported from Uttar Pradesh’s Lalitpur district, a 19-year-old woman was abducted by a man who she was allegedly in a relationship for the last four years and gangraped by him and his friends in a moving car, police said on Thursday.

Speaking on the case, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kalu Singh said: “The victim had been in a relationship with the accused, Badal Raja, for the past four years and preliminary investigation suggests she had accompanied him voluntarily.”

According to officials, the victim’s mother lodged a complaint with the police, alleging that her daughter was forcibly taken away in a car by a local resident, Badal Raja, along with two of his associates.

The complainant stated that the distraught victim managed to call her sister during the horrific incident and sought help from her family.

Following the call, her family launched a desperate search for her and found her in a distressed condition near the railway station and took her to the police station.

Based on the complaint, the police registered an FIR and formed a special team to investigate the case.

During the course of investigation, police arrested two of the accused. A third unidentified accused was later apprehended during a police encounter, in which he sustained a bullet injury to his leg. He is currently undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Investigators said to have recovered a .315 bore country-made pistol, one empty cartridge, one live cartridge, a mobile phone, a bottle of liquor, and a car from the accused during the encounter.

The police said the accused will be produced before the court based on the available evidence.

Further investigation in the case is underway.

In yet another crime against girls and women in UP, a seven-year-old girl was found dead in the basement of an under-construction mall in Ghaziabad’s Raj Nagar Extension.

She had been befriended by one of the accused, who often played with her and her brothers and gave them chocolates, chips and toffees to gain their trust.

The child’s body was recovered during the early hours of Saturday from the basement of the building. A post-mortem examination confirmed that she was raped before her death and died due to a head injury. Police have registered an FIR based on a complaint filed by the family.

–IANS

cg/rad