The postmortem report of the 45-year-old woman, whose body was found hanging from a tree in Bahraich on Wednesday, has "not confirmed rape", even as five policemen have been suspended in connection with the case.
"The postmortem report of the woman has not confirmed rape. The cause of death is ante-mortem hanging. The body of the victim did not have any injury marks," District Magistrate N K Singh said on Thursday.
About blood being found on the private parts of the body, Singh said blood could come in any part of the body due to hanging.
"It could not be said if it is a case of suicide or murder till the investigation is completed. The police are also probing mobile phone details of the victim's son and his statement, which differ," the DM said.
The victim's husband Babulal, who is handicapped, has been given Rs 1 lakh financial assistance from the chief minister's relief fund, the district magistrate said.
He said three of the five accused -- Ramswarup, Onkar and Raju -- have been arrested and a probe is on in the matter. Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police Happy Guptan on Thursday said he has suspended five police personnel -- station house officer (Ranipur) Salahuddin Sheikh, sub inspector Janardan Rai, head constable Ram Dhwaj Singh and constables Khooblal and Nitin Dubey for not informing higher authorities about the incident.
The semi-nude body of the woman, belonging to a backward caste, was found hanging with a saree from a tree in Ranipur area. She had gone missing on the night of June 10, Additional Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar Singh had said on Wednesday.
A resident of Loniyanpur village in Ranipur, the woman was allegedly abducted from Bahraich, gangraped and later hanged, he had said.
In a complaint to the police, the woman's family has named five persons -- Raju, Onkar, Ramswarup, Vinay and Naeem -- and an FIR was registered against them under Section Indian Penal Code 302 (murder), Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and Section 376 (rape), according to the ASP.
