Pradhan’s Son Held For Allegedly Stabbing Teen in UP’s Ballia

The accused, 17-year-old Prince Tiwari, is the son of UP BJP leader and village pradhan Kripashankar Tiwari.

The accused, 17-year-old Prince Tiwari, is the son of village pradhan and village pradhan Kripashankar Tiwari.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The son of a village pradhan has been arrested for allegedly having stabbed 17-year-old Ragini Dubey in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district.

The victim’s family alleged that five men had been stalking the teen for months, before accosting her and slitting her throat in broad daylight on 8 August. Ragini’s sister identified the accused who slit her throat as 17-year-old Prince Tiwari, son of a village pradhan, Kripashankar Tiwari.

According to the report, Prince is a Class XII dropout who had been pulled up by the now-disbanded UP ‘Anti-Romeo’ squad for stalking Ragini. He had been let off with a warning a few months ago.

Jitendra Dubey, Ragini’s father, a farmer by profession, has named Prince, Kripashankar, Sonu and Prince's friends Niraj Tiwari and Raju Yadav in the FIR. Ragini’s sister, Siya, identified Prince and Sonu as the main accused.

Stabbed in Broad Daylight

“My sister used to dislike Prince. But he and his friends continued harassing her,” said Siya, the victim’s younger sister. She said the two were on their way to school on their bicycles on 8 August when Prince and Sonu accosted them.

We fell off our cycle. Prince dragged my sister to the middle of the road, took out a knife and kept slashing her throat. There were at least 50 people on the road but none of them came forward to help.

Siya Dubey

Ragini was rushed to the district hospital, where the doctors declared her brought dead.

An FIR has been filed against the village pradhan, his son, his nephew, and two others of the village who are among the accused, the SP said.

Prince has been arrested, along with accomplice Raju Yadav. However, the victim’s father, Jitendra, has alleged that all five accused were present in the village for several hours after the crime. “Had the police acted fast, all of them could have been arrested,” he said.

Jitendra said he had told BJP leader Kripashankar about Prince in March, but that he had not taken any steps to control his son. Later, Jitendra approached the police and the anti-Romeo squad seeking safety for his daughter.

The anti-Romeo squad personnel warned Prince to stay off Ragini and let him off. But he continued to stalk and harass my daughter. He wanted to marry Ragini but she had refused. She wanted to continue studying and become a doctor.

“They used to come and sit there and pass lewd remarks against my daughter. We should have gone to the police,” the victim’s mother told NDTV.

(With inputs from PTI)

Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam

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