Haryana Govt hands over Mewat double murder case to CBI

Chandigarh, Sep 20: The Haryana government today handed over to CBI the double-murder case of a couple and alleged gangrape of two girls in which their kin had alleged the role of cow vigilantes in Mewat district.

The probe in the incident has been transferred to the CBI, official sources said here. After the incident last month, Haryana Police had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case.

The Haryana Police had come under criticism and public outrage, following the brutal incident that took place in a house located near Manesar-Palwal expressway in a village in Mewat last month.

On August 28, Haryana Police had arrested four youths in connection with murder of a couple and gang-rape of two girls after the accused had barged into the family's house in the wee hours on August 25 in a village in Mewat district.

On the fateful night, the assailants had first killed the couple, who were 40 years of age, with sharp edged weapons and then injured six other members of the family, all of whom were sleeping in the house, located near the fields in the village.

They had also ransacked the house, an isolated structure located in the middle of farmland, and fled with some valuables including cash, police had said earlier. Among the injured included two women, aged 18 and 22 years, who were sexually assaulted by the assailants.

They were relatives of the couple, according to police. After committing the crime, the accused had tied the injured with ropes and escaped from the spot. Some residents living nearby found the injured after which the police had been informed about the incident.

The family of the victims had alleged that they had informed the police personnel about the cow vigilantes but they chose to ignore it. "They (attackers) asked us 'you eat cow meat'. We said 'no'. They then said 'you eat cow meat'.

They said 'we are killing you because you eat cow'. "We told this to the police but they are not doing anything," one of the two victims had claimed.

Yesterday, BSP president Mayawati had lashed out at Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for terming the Mewat gang-rape and double-murder case a "small issue" and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take note of "anti- woman" mentality of a "person occupying such a high post".

PTI