Body of Haryanvi Singer Found Buried Near Highway 12 Days After She Went Missing

The body of a Haryanvi singer was found buried near a highway in the state's Rohtak district.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

The body of a Haryanvi singer was found buried near a highway in the state's Rohtak district on Monday, 23 May, nearly two weeks after she went missing. Her family has alleged that she was sexually assaulted.

Two persons have been arrested in the case.

The deceased, 29, who belonged to the Dalit community, had been residing in Delhi. She had been last seen by her family on 11 May.

As per Delhi Police, the accused persons – one Ravi and one Anil – who hail from Haryana's Meham, had hatched a conspiracy to kill her. The accused had picked up the singer from Delhi on the pretext of making a music video, and had drugged and murdered her. The accused later buried her body, as per the police.

A fresh FIR has been registered in connection to the incident, under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code. The two accused had been arrested on Saturday, as per the police.

The two men had been friends of the deceased, as per DCP Dwarka Shankar Choudhary. She had also filed a case of rape against Ravi, who works at the same company as her in Haryana, the DCP said.

A complaint of kidnapping had also been filed by the family three days after the singer went missing, on 14 May. DCP Dwarka Choudhary said that the police had conducted due proceedings after the complaint, and had registered a case on 22 May.

Her family had accused two youths who worked with the musician of abducting her. According to the family, she had gone to Bhiwani with the two for the shoot of a music video. CCTV footage had also shown the deceased having food with one of the accused Rohit at a hotel near Meham, per reports.

The two suspected perpetrators had been remanded in police custody and were being interrogated, as per the police. Strict action will be taken against the culprits, the Dwarka DCP said.

Family Alleges Sexual Assault and Police Negligence

The sister of the deceased, speaking to reporters, said that the body of the singer had been found without clothes.

"We want that the culprits behind this should be given strict punishment, they should be hanged. By looking at the body, it seems she was raped. There is a wound on the head, and the body was found without clothes. They tried to remove all evidence of the crime, they buried her in Meham," she said.

"This conspiracy has been carried out by Ravi. We demand that all those involved be arrested. The police did not do any work. They also mislead us. They took our missing complaint on 14 May, but registered the FIR on 22 May. What were they doing in between? Such people should be suspended," the sister added.

Family of Singer, Bhim Army Protest Outside Police Station

The family of the deceased and the Bhim Army on Monday night staged a protest outside Delhi's Jafarpur Police Station, alleging that the police did not take timely action in the case. The body of the deceased was kept outside the police station to mark dissent.

Chandrashekhar Aazad, the chief of Bhim Army, tweeted, "A daughter named Sangeeta was missing from Delhi's Jafarpur since May 11, yesterday her body was found buried in Rohtak. The police kept on misleading the family to save the criminals. Had there been timely action, the daughter would have been alive today. Our team is standing outside the police station at 12 o'clock in the rain with the family."