Key accused in rape-murder case, Badaun temple priest held

Four days after a 50-year-old lady was allegedly gang-raped and deserted outdoors her dwelling at a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district, the native temple priest, the principle accused within the case, was arrested from a close-by village within the district late on Thursday, the police stated.
The priest, recognized as Satyanand, was hiding in the home of one in every of his followers in a village from the place he was picked up and arrested, PTI reported, quoting District Magistrate Kumar Prashant.
Dropped outdoors her home on Sunday night time, allegedly by the priest and two associates, the girl later died in hospital on account of extreme bleeding.
The two different accused had been arrested on Wednesday. A day later, three UP Police constables had been deployed outdoors the temple.
An area resident stated the sufferer was recognized to go to the temple frequently, however nobody might say what had transpired on Sunday. The temple is located near the principle village highway, close to a sprawling farm. Satyanand, the native residents stated, lived in one of many rooms contained in the temple.
Local residents stated Satyanand had come to the village round 5 years in the past, and largely saved to himself.
“People knew him since many come here from nearby areas. But until this incident, no one really interfered in the temple’s activities or asked much about the priest. We sometimes saw him outside the temple premises, but his visits were limited,” Nandu, a neighborhood resident, stated.
People who visited the temple stated Satyanand provided to conduct rituals for them within the temple. He reportedly additionally provided concoctions for aches and pains.
“The two men arrested maintain that they found the woman in an injured state and wanted to help her. I carried out an inspection of the crime site, and as per evidence we are treating it as a case of gangrape and murder,” Badaun SSP Sankalp Sharma stated.
The lady’s household rejected the arrested duo’s assertion. Her son-in-law stated, “If they wanted to help, they could have woken up people in the village. But their intention was to leave her dead…. She was a God-fearing lady; we cannot imagine something like this would happen to her in a temple.”