Accident Or Eve Teasing? UP Police Forms SIT To Probe Bulandshahr Incident After Massive Outrage

The daughter of a tea-shop owner, Sudiksha Bhati died Monday morning near Aurangabad when she was riding pillion on a motorcycle with her younger brother, a minor.

(Image: PTI)

Lucknow: Hours after a promising scholar, who was on a visit home from the US where she studied, allegedly lost her life as she tried to escape harassment by some miscreants in Uttar Pradesh's Bulandshahr, the state police on Tuesday evening set up a Special Investigative Team (SIT) to probe the incident. The daughter of a tea-shop owner, Sudiksha Bhati died Monday morning near Aurangabad when she was riding pillion on a motorcycle with her younger brother, a minor. The 20-year-old girl, on a visit home from the US where she studied, died because two motorcycle-borne men were following her two-wheeler and harassing her, claims her family. However, responding to early claims, Uttar Pradesh Police maintains that she died in a road accident. The two were en route to their maternal uncle's home in Bulandshahr's Khanpur area from their house at Deri Scanar village in Gautam Buddh Nagar's Dadri tehsil, officials said. As soon as the incident made headline, social media roared against the act and a nationwide outrage was seen with many slamming stat's law and order for the death of the college student. "The men were passing comments on the victim and were trying to overtake her vehicle performing stunts to impress her. Suddenly, their Bullet hit Sudeeksha's scooty and she lost balance. She died on the spot," said Satyendra Bhati, the uncle. Police deny harassment charges The state government spokesman though categorically denied that there was any eve teasing involved in the incident and said that the family of the victim has not made any such complaint. Atul Srivastava, Superintendent of Police (City) had said that the body has been sent for post mortem and a probe was underway. She got admitted in our school in 2011 in Class 6. In 2018, she scored 98 per cent marks in class 12 examination and topped the district," said Bishwajit Banerjee, the principal of Sikandrabad Vidyagyan School, Bulandshahr. She then went onto win a Rs 3.8-crore scholarship from Babson College, Massachusetts (US), and was pursuing a graduation course in entrepreneurship. Her family members said she had come to India due to the coronavirus pandemic and was scheduled to go back to the US on August 20. The family alleged that while going to her maternal uncle Monday, she was being harassed by the two unidentified persons during the ride which led to the accident. Additional Superintendent of Police (City) Atul Kumar Srivastava said there was traffic on the route when the accident happened. "A Bullet (a Royal Enfield motorcycle) which was moving ahead of them suddenly stopped due to braking, and the two-wheeler of Sudiksha Bhati and her brother rammed into it from behind." Meanwhile, the Bulandshahr Police has constituted an SIT to probe into the matter. The SIT will be headed by city CO Diksha Singh and will also include two inspectors from the Crime Branch.