The woman was first gang-raped in her house and then dragged to a nearby temple and burnt alive. (Photo: Reuters alive)

A 30-year-old woman was gang-raped in her house and later burnt alive in a temple by five male members of her family in Pathakpur village of Rajpura area in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh. The barbaric act took place around 2 am on Saturday when the victim was at her home with her 10-year-old daughter.

The woman's husband works as a labourer in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Taking advantage of his absence, the five men barged into her house, gang-raped her and left the place. Following this, the victim called her cousin on his mobile phone and informed him about the ordeal. She also named the five men and asked for help. An audio clip of this call is now with the police.

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It is learnt that she had also called the police control room for help but her call remained unanswered.

However, before her cousin could come to her rescue, the five men returned and dragged her to a nearby temple. They then burnt her alive in the havan kund (place where the sacred fire is burnt during religious ceremonies) that was inside a hut in the temple premises.

"The hut, where the woman was burnt alive, was used to perform 'yagna and havan'," said Station House Officer, Rajpura, Arun Kumar.

When some villagers came to know that the woman was being taken to the temple, they reached there but none dared to stop the accused from setting the woman on fire.

The five men have been identified as: Aram Singh, Mahaveer, Charan Singh, Gullu and Bhona. They are all absconding.

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Gunnaur Circle officer Aqil Ahmad said an FIR has been registered against the accused under sections 376 D (gang-rape), 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence), 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapons), among others, of the Indian Penal Code.

Superintendent of Police RM Bhardwaj said, "The woman has named the five men in her call to her cousin. We have a recording of the call. This is vital evidence. She has also mentioned being humiliated by the accused."

He added that it is learnt that the five men were annoyed that the woman used to meet a youth.

"They reportedly had an argument with her husband over this. We are not in a position to confirm if she was gang-raped. We have sent samples to the forensic lab and details will be known once the report is out," he said.

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In his complaint, the victim's husband alleged that after she was gang-raped, his wife called her cousin to inform about the incident. But by the time the police could be contacted, the accused returned and dragged her to the hut in the temple and burnt her alive.

'Accused used to sexually harass her'

Meanwhile, members of the woman's maternal family have alleged that her family members had been harassing her for a long time. They said that on Friday, her brother-in-law and his cousins molested her. There was also a quarrel between them when she protested this, they claimed.

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The family members said that angered over the quarrel on Friday, the five men barged into her house and inflicted the barbaric act on her.

In the recording of the woman's last call to her brother, she is reportedly heard telling him that the five men will kill her.

(With inputs from Anoop Kumar in Sambhal and PTI)

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