Mamta, 22, sat blank, staring at the funeral pyre of her husband, Suraj, a Nepalese national and an accused, killed in Police lock-up allegedly by another accused in the Gudia gangrape and murder case on 19 July, in Shimlaon Wednesday.

As her little daughter Asha (7) and son Sameer (3) lit their father’s pyre at the cremation ground here, visibly unaware of  what were they doing, Mamta was continuously consoled by the women cops.

The cremation was held under heavy deployment of cops, with Gudia case turning out to be sensitive, and Nepalese working in an upper Shimla area, particularly upset over the setback as Suraj’s relatives in Nepal and brother in Gujarat was not informed about his death.

“Everything is over. How would I manage with my children now in the alien land,” Mamta murmered, as she was too numbed to come to terms with the reality that her husband was killed in Police custody in Kotkhai.

The Police had arrested Suraj and four others in Gudia case on 13 July, while one of the accused, Ashish Chauhan was arrested on 12 July.

Suraj’s body was handed over to her on Wednesday, seven days after his murder. The autopsy was conducted at IGMC on 19 July, but the body was re-examined by the Central Bureau of Investigation team on Tuesday Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) with experts coming from Delhi.

Suraj was a poor farm labourer and was employed in an apple orchard in Kotkhai. As immediate help, the Nepalese community collected money for Mamta who is currently lodged in Narinikaten at Mashobra.

The CBI on Tuesday had taken accused, Rajender Singh alias Raju, Subhash Singh Bisht (42), Lokjan alias Chhotu (19) and Deepak (38) into custody for questioning. The four accused were taken to Kotkhai for spot verification, sources said.

CBI has also issued helpline numbers 82198-85920 and 82198-93590 for information on the ghastly crime.

Sixteen years old Gudia had gone missing after school hours on 4 July. Her body was recovered from the woods on 6 July, with autopsy report revealing that she was gang-raped and strangulated to death later.

Six persons were arrested by Police in the case, however, amid public outrage, alleging shoddy investigations in the gangrape and murder case, the case was referred to CBI for investigation.