In a chilling reminder of the horrific Badaun incident, body of a 45-year-old woman, belonging to a backward caste, was found hanging from a tree here on Wednesday after she was allegedly abducted and gang-raped.

The semi-nude body of the victim was found hanging with a saree from a tree in Ranipur area, Additional Superintendent of Police Sunil Kumar Singh said.

The woman, belonging to a backward caste, went missing Tuesday night, he said.

A resident of Loniyanpur village in Ranipur, the woman was allegedly abducted from Bahraich, gang-raped and later hanged, Singh said.

The victim was heading to Lucknow for treatment when her son informed her on mobile that she had become a grandmother and asked her to return immediately, the ASP said.

On reaching Bahraich, the woman called up her son to pick her up and when he reached there, he found his mother missing, the officer said.

Her mobile, which was found switched off, and footwear were found near the tree from where she was found hanging, he said.

In a complaint to police, the family named five persons who they alleged had committed the crime, the ASP said.

An FIR had been registered against Vijay, Raju, Onkar, Ramswarup and Naeem under section IPC 302 (murder), section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) and section 376 (rape), Singh said.

All the accused were absconding, he said adding “rape cannot be ruled out. We are waiting for the post-mortem report”.

Locals alleged the woman had enmity with some persons involved in the liquor trade.

She had made a complaint against them earlier also, they said.

Nearly two weeks ago, in Badaun district, two tenenage cousins, aged 14 and 15, were found hanging from a tree after they were allegedly gang-raped and murdered, sparking country-wide outrage.

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