A 50-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped and murdered by three men on Sunday night in Budaun district of western Uttar Pradesh.

According to the police, two men have been arrested and a case has been registered against them. The three accused include a priest and two of his followers. As per the police, the victim had been visiting the temple for the past several years and lived in near the same area.

The woman’s family alleged that the three men dropped the 50-year-old victim at her house on Sunday and she was found bleeding. She died while undergoing treatment at a district hospital.

The autopsy reports have revealed injuries to the private part of the victim. Chief Medical Officer Dr Yashpal Singh of Budaun said, “The post mortem reports show minor injuries to private parts, there are tears and she has a fracture on one of her legs. There was excessive bleeding and the bleeding led to shock and that led to the patient’s death. Prima facie we found evidence of rape.”

A tweet by the Budaun police has said that a case of gang-rape and murder has been filed and two arrests have been made. Sankalp Sharma, the Budaun police chief, has confirmed arrests and said that disciplinary action was being taken against the local policemen for reported negligence.

He said, “The preliminary inquiry has found that the local police station in-charge was negligent in handling the case. I have ordered his suspension.”

National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma said that they have taken cognizance of the case and a team has been sent to the district to take stock of the situation. A statement issued by NCW read, “The family of the deceased has also alleged police apathy for delay caused in filing the FIR. The Commission is deeply perturbed by the reported incident and the alleged police apathy.”

This incident comes at a time when a Dalit woman from Hathras was gang-raped by four upper caste men and she died after sustaining severe injuries. The handling of the case by UP police and her ‘dead-of-night cremation’ had led to massive protests across the country.