A 16-year-old Dalit girl who was allegedly raped by a man in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh has died during treatment at a hospital, police said on Friday.

Additional Superintendent of Police (West) Sanjay Rai said the teenager was held hostage and raped on Sunday last week.

“The accused tied her hands and mouth and left her in a millet field in a seriously injured state. She was admitted to the SRN Hospital in Prayagraj where she was undergoing treatment and passed away last evening,” Rai said.

On the complaint of the victim’s mother, the police had registered a case against accused Anil Gupta under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the SC-ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, he said.

The 22-year-old accused was arrested on Monday after a gunfight with the police, they said. Murder charges have also been added to the case, police added. The body was returned to family after conducting the post-mortem, PTI reported.

In another incident from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaushambi in November last year, a 19-year-old woman was hacked to death in broad daylight by two brothers, including the man accused of raping her.

According to reports, the woman butchered with an axe on the main road as scared villagers watched helplessly. Pawan Nishad was accused of raping her three years ago, when she was a minor. Reports said that Pawan and his associates had been harassing the woman, since then, to get her to drop the case lodged against him.

Pawan’s brother, Ashok Nishad, was an accused in a separate murder case and was released less than two days before the young woman’s murder. The officials explained that Pawan was out of jail by this time and the two plotted to confront the woman’s family and force them to close the case.

An FIR has been filed against five members of a family on charges of sexual harassment and causing hurt to a Nepali woman and forcing her into marriage at Puranpur police station of Pilibhit district in Uttar Pradesh.

According to reports, the 26-year-old woman was brought to India from Nepal 13 years ago under false pretenses of finding employment and was subsequently forced into marriage and converted to the accused’s religion.

The woman recently shared her ordeal at a local meeting organised against religious conversion by Hindu organisations.

The 26-year-old described how the accused befriended her while concealing his identity and lured her to India with promises of employment. Once in India, she was subjected to repeated sexual assault and threats.

The case was registered based on a complaint filed by the victim late on Monday evening, as per the report.

According to PTI, the accused, including three brothers, their mother and a maternal uncle, have been charged under various sections of the Bhartiya Naya Sanhita (BNS), including 352 (intentionally insults), 351(3) (criminal intimidation), 115(2) punishment for voluntarily causing hurt and 76 (use criminal force against a woman with the intent of disrobing her modesty).

The Crime Inspector at Puranpur Police Station Gajendra Singh said the victim has alleged that she was forced to marry, and was physically and mentally harassed by her in-laws.

The police are currently investigating the matter to gather further evidence and ensure justice for the victim.

Last month in a separate incident, sixteen people were arrested after a video of a woman being harassed on a flooded road in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow went viral on the internet. Following the incident, the government transferred three senior police officers and suspended five police personnel, including a Station House Officer.

The incident took place in Gomtinagar where heavy rainfall has resulted in waterlogging in some areas, leading to a disturbing incident.

In a kind of incident, twelve passengers were injured when they jumped out of a slow-moving train in panic after a few men operated a fire extinguisher and its fumes filled a coach near Uttar Pradesh’s Bilpur on Sunday.

According to reports, the incident occurred in a general coach of the Howrah-Amritsar Mail in the morning near Bilpur station, which falls under the Moradabad division.

An official of the Northern Railway stated that passengers pulled the alarm chain for an emergency stop and jumped out of the train in panic while it was still moving. The official added that 12 passengers were injured.

The official said, “Initially, it appeared that some troublemakers or unruly passengers discharged a fire extinguisher, giving the impression that a fire had started in the general coach of the Howrah-Amritsar Mail train.” The official also mentioned that the Railway Protection Force is investigating the incident.

Panic erupted at Bilpur station in Bareilly when a rumor circulated that the train had caught fire upon arrival. In response, the emergency chain was pulled, slowing down the train. Some passengers, fearing for their safety, jumped off the train while it was still in motion.

GRP station in-charge, Rehan Khan, confirmed that six passengers, including two women, were injured in the chaos. They were promptly taken to Shahjahanpur Medical College for treatment. The injured individuals were identified as Anwari (26), Akhtari (45), Kuldeep (26), Ruby Lal (50), Shiv Sharan (40), and Chandrapal (35).

Initially, Northern Railway spokesperson Kultar Singh reported 12 passengers were injured, but the GRP later clarified the actual number of injuries. Singh suggested that the panic may have been triggered by a miscreant or an unruly passenger who activated a fire extinguisher, creating a false impression of a fire. The incident is currently under investigation by the Railway Protection Force (RPF).