Missing dalit woman's body found buried near ex-Samajwadi MLA's UP ashram

Two months after a 22-year-old Dalit woman went missing from UP's Unnao, her decomposed body was recovered from a vacant plot near an ashram constructed by a former minister in Samajwadi Party government Fateh Bahadur Singh, police said on Friday.

Rajol Singh, the main accused in the case, is the son of Fateh Bahadur.

The post-mortem proceedings are underway, they said.

"We interrogated the accused Rajol Singh on remand. After which the SOG team recovered the woman's body on Thursday. The body was buried in the plot near the ashram. We used local intelligence and mobile surveillance to identify the spot where the body was buried," said Unnao's Additional Superintendent of Police Shashi Shekhar Singh.

He said the matter appears to be of illicit relations gone wrong, the investigation is being done, whoever else is found involved in the incident will also be arrested soon.

Meanwhile, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Friday also targeted the Samajwadi Party and demanded that the state government must immediately take strict legal action against the culprits to ensure justice for the victim's family.

"Recovery of the body of a Dalit girl in the SP leader's field in Unnao district is a very sad and serious matter. The family members were already suspecting the SP leader about her abduction and murder. The state government should immediately take strict legal action against the culprits to get justice for the victim's family," she tweeted.

Right after the woman went missing on December 8, the mother alleged that her daughter had been kidnapped by former minister's son Rajol Singh.

The mother also expressed apprehension of an untoward incident with the local police as well as the senior officials demanding action against the accused Rajol Singh.

On January 24, the victim's mother also attempted self-immolation in front of the vehicle of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow alleging laxity by the police to find out the whereabouts of her daughter.

Following this, the police had arrested Rajol Singh on the same day. The recovery of the body has confirmed the apprehensions of the mother.

A day after her daughter went missing, the mother had lodged a police complaint of kidnapping against Rajol Singh.