CBI probing ‘honour killing’ theory in Badaun case

NEW DELHI: The CBI is probing the “honour killing” theory in the gang rape and murder of two teenaged girls in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun.

Highly placed sources told TOI that there were several reasons to verify the honour killing theory – repeated contradictions in the statements given by family members including parents, mismatched versions of sequence of events by villagers and family and contradictions in the account of the incident given by main eyewitnesses including Baburam alias Nazru, all of whom accompanied the parents in search of the girls on the night of May 27.

Subsequently, different versions were given by residents of Sadatganj village in Ushait (Badaun) on whether a police officer had come to the village to inform about the girls hanging from a tree or the parents going to the police station with the claim.

CBI director Ranjit Sinha refused to single out any theory but confirmed that “they are probing every possibility, including honour killing”. “I have not seen the progress report of the case but there can be any possibility and we are looking into everything,” he said.

For the past few days, CBI has been repeatedly questioning residents of Sadatganj and nearby villages.

The parents of the girls, along with main eyewitness Baburam alias Nazru have reportedly been brought to Delhi to conduct a lie detection test on them apart from other examinations. The agency has also examined other people from the village including a witness Rambabu, Ram Khilawan, Shyam Singh, Jaipal and Veerpal.

The lie detection test on five accused — three brothers Pappu Yadav, Awadhesh Yadav and Urvesh Yadav, and constables Chhatrapal Yadav and Sarvesh Yadav was conducted earlier but the agency is yet to receive the report from CFSL.

Sources said lie detection test can eliminate confusion in the case.

The two girls, who were cousins aged 14 and 15, went missing from their house on the night of May 27 and their bodies were found hanging from a mango tree in the village on May 28. The postmortem report of the two girls confirmed that they were raped before being murdered. Five persons have been arrested in the case that had sparked nationwide outrage.

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