GUWAHATI: The body of a 21-year old woman from Assam was found hanging from a tree in the wee hours of Thursday, in what police suspect is a case of rape and murder.The police have arrested two persons, but suspect the involvement of at least 10-12 others in the incident that took place in Baithalangsu area of Karbi Anglong.
Police arrested Sar Im Bey and a juvenile, Mahajan Senar.
“We suspect that at least eight others were involved in the incident. We are conducting searches but they are evading arrest,” additional superintendent of police (ASP), Bolin Deuri, told the New Indian Express.
He said the incident took place when the victim, her male friend and another couple were returning home from a Bihu programme at around 2 am.
“After watching Bihu, the four of them had gone to a school compound, around 700 meters away. While one pair was busy talking to each other near a culvert, the other pair entered a room that had no doors and windows. Suddenly, the accused arrived there, beat up the couple that was near the culvert and scared them into leaving. Once they were gone, the accused targeted the victim’s male friend and beat him severely. Later, four of them left the spot to drop him to his house. Possibly, it was then that the crime took place,” Deuri said.
Initially there were seven accused but later were joined by three to four others, he said.
“The body was found hanging from a tree around 100 meters away from the school. We strongly believe that she was raped and murdered,” the ASP said. He added that the body was sent for postmortem.