Bulandshahr gang-rape main accused dead

Salim Bawaria, the main accused in the gang-rape of a mother-daughter on a highway in Bulandshahr in 2016, died on Sunday after a prolonged kidney ailment at a government hospital.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the case, had filed a chargesheet three years ago against him and two others for the crime. Bawaria was lodged in the district prison in Bulandshahr.

According to Superintendent of Police (SP) Atul Kumar Srivastava, Bawaria recently underwent dialysis at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty hospital in Delhi. His condition deteriorated early Sunday morning after which he was rushed to the district hospital in Bulandshahr but he died on the way.

It may be recalled that in July 2016, the notorious Bawaria gang had waylaid a family on the highway and had raped a 13-year-old girl and her mother, after tying up all the male members of the family.

The family of six was travelling on the Delhi-Kanpur highway on the intervening night of July 29 and July 30, 2016 when the incident took place.

The police investigation centered on the Bawaria gang and it later arrested three members of the gang for the crime.

The case was later handed over to the CBI which had filed chargesheet against three accused -- Saleem Bawaria, Zubair and Sajid. Zubair and Sajid are currently lodged in Bulandshahr jail.