UP: Investigation On As Woman's Semi-Naked, Headless Body Found On Highway

The semi-naked decapitated body of a woman was found on the side of a highway in Gujaini, Uttar Pradesh, on September 10, police said. Passersby on the highway between Kanpur and Delhi witnessed the devastating sight of the woman's "headless" body and contacted the police, who immediately started an investigation. The officials said that the woman's body was found nearby "completely ruptured". They have yet to ascertain the identity of the woman.  

Woman's Head Found Away From Body, Completely Crushed

Investigators said they are using CCTV footage to confirm the cause of the woman's death. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ravinder Kumar told reporters that her bones and teeth were broken. No mobile phone, bag or identity card was found near the body.

"The woman's body has been sent for post-mortem. There are marks of a blunt object on the body. We are probing this case from a murder as well as an accident angle," he said. Kanpur Additional Commissioner Harish Chandra said the woman might have died in a road accident.]

It is possible that the accident was caused by a big vehicle. The head was not missing. It had ruptured due to the injury. It has been found now. Clothes have also been found. Other things will be revealed after the postmortem report," Chandra said, according to a report in India Today.

While the cause of her death has not been confirmed, speculations of sexual violence have caused outrage in Uttar Pradesh. The brutal death has stirred a political blame game with many pointing fingers at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in ineffectively controlling crimes against women. 

उप्र में महिला अपराध की एक और दिल दहला देनेवाली घटना में कानपुर के हाईवे पर एक महिला की सिर कटी, निर्वस्त्र लाश का मिलना है। मृतका के साथ हुई बेरहम हिंसा और असीम शारीरिक पीड़ा दिये जाने के जो सबूत मिले हैं, नैतिकता कहती है उनका उल्लेख न किया जाए। मृतका के साथ हर संभव प्रताड़ना व…

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) September 11, 2024

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed on X that officials found evidence of "ruthless violence and immense physical torture" on the victim's body. Citing suspicions that she was raped and murdered, he added that the criminals should be given the strictest of punishments. 

Fellow INDIA bloc member Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of the Congress wrote, "Be it at home or outside, on the road or in the office, women are not safe anywhere. Half the population of the country is not only unsafe, but due to such brutality, the morale of crores of women is shattered every day".