In Haryana's Mewat, half a dozen men kill couple, gang-rape two relatives

Chandigarh: In a spine-chilling incident, a couple was murdered and two teenage relatives allegedly sexually assaulted by unidentified persons who barged into the family's house in the wee hours Thursday in a village in Haryana's Mewat district.

The assailants first killed the couple, said to be about 40 years of age, with sharp-edged weapons and then injured six other members of the family, all of whom were sleeping in the house, which is located near the fields in Digerhedi village, police said.

Among the injured included the two women, aged 18 and 19 years, who were sexually assaulted by the assailants. They were relatives of the couple, they said.

The Haryana Police is examining the statements recorded by the family that two of the assailants were dressed only in undergarments while the rest were fully clothed.

In a statement, one of the rape victims said: "They snatched our dupattas, tied the men to the cots and beat everybody with rods and sticks...They were armed with country-made pistols."

"They raped us and threatened to kill everybody," The Times of India quoted the survivor as saying.

"A couple was killed in the incident. Two women have been sexually assaulted," SP Mewat Kuldeep Singh told PTI over the phone.

Efforts are on to nab the assailants. The injured have been hospitalised, he said.

A case under relevant provisions of the law has been registered and further investigations were underway, Singh added.

(With PTI inputs)