UP: 70-year-old woman beaten to death for standing up against molesters

New Delhi, April 27: At a time when the Uttar Pradesh government is trying to provide safety to women by forming special anti-Romeo squads, a 70-year-old woman was brutally beaten to death by a group of molesters in Ghaziabad.

The victim, Meena, succumbed to her injuries in a hospital in the national capital on Tuesday, said her son Mohammad Salahuddin. The incident happened after a group of men verbally abused Meena's 17-year-old granddaughter.

The men, a few of whom are Meena's neighbours, passed lewd comments and used obscene language to harass her granddaughter on April 21. The girl reported the matter to her family. Thereafter, the family approached the accused.

'The matter was sorted out between the elders of the two families. Two days later, when we all were sitting at home, several men from the same family who had harassed the girl entered our house with rods and sticks and started attacking our family. They hit everyone brutally and did not spare even the women and children,' Salahuddin told Hindustan Times.

The attackers brutally beat Meena as she protested against her



granddaughter's molesters.

'Since my mother was vocal about the harassment, they hit her on the head with rods while she tried to save us. The three of us were beaten severely and fell unconscious. Later, the attackers threw bricks at our house from the second floor of their house,' he said.

'Other neighbours informed the police and all of us were taken to the hospital. My mother was admitted to GTB Hospital in Delhi where she succumbed to injuries on Tuesday,' he said.

The case is being investigated by the Murad Nagar police station. So far, the police arrested four accused in the case.

'The incident was a result of the alleged harassment of the girl, following which the neighbours attacked the family. We have lodged a FIR under sections of causing grievous hurt, rioting, house trespass, causing hurt and criminal intimidation. Since the woman died, we will also add the section of culpable homicide not amounting to murder against the accused,' Sartaj Khan, officiating SHO, Murad Nagar, said.

'A search is on for the remaining accused in the case,' he said.