Teenage girl dies after assault in Firozabad as police arrest three suspects

FIROZABAD — A 17-year-old Dalit girl succumbed to her injuries in Agra on November 6, nearly a week after she was found unconscious following an alleged gangrape and assault in Firozabad district, police said.

Her death on November 6 sparked protests by grieving relatives and local organisations who demanded severe penalties and financial compensation. Senior police and administrative officers intervened at the village, promising stringent measures such as invoking the Gangsters Act and seizing the assets of the accused. Her final rites took place in the village on Friday evening.

The sequence of events began on the evening of October 31 when the teenager left her home to relieve herself and failed to return. After overnight searches by her family proved unsuccessful, a local resident discovered her unconscious in a field roughly a kilometer away the following afternoon. Transported first to a local medical facility, she was subsequently transferred to Agra due to the severity of her condition. The station officer noted that a post-mortem was performed in Agra with the final report still pending, though preliminary observations revealed injury marks on her neck.

Police apprehended three individuals hailing from neighbouring villages, all belonging to the OBC category and working odd jobs including tractor driving: 21-year-old Rishi Yadav, his 28-year-old brother Jagat Yadav, and 24-year-old Ashiq alias Shivanshu. Investigators utilized technical surveillance and call detail record analysis to track them down. Rishi and Jagat were captured on November 2 after sustaining leg bullet injuries in a police encounter, while Ashiq was taken into custody the subsequent day. All three are currently detained in jail.

Interrogation of Rishi led police to claim that he had maintained contact with the girl for half a year and summoned her to the field on the night of the incident. According to investigators, Rishi committed rape, Ashiq attempted the same when the victim fought back, and Jagat remained present. The trio allegedly beat her with shoes and tried to strangle her prior to escape.

Contradicting the police version that she was summoned, the victim’s elder brother, a daily-wage earner, insisted she had only gone out to use the open space. He described her as the youngest among seven siblings who enjoyed domestic chores rather than studies and held a cherished place in the household.