Shimla gang-rape case: 1 of the 6 accused dies in police custody

TV grab

Shimla: One of the six people accused of the rape and murder case of Shimla minor girl was found murdered inside his cell in Shimla district's Kotkhai tehsil on Tuesday. 

As per Zee News, the deceased, identified as Suraj, was murdered by the other accused in the case, Suraj, inside the jail last night. 

On July 13, the Himachal Pradesh Police had claimed a breakthrough in the rape and murder of a minor school girl whose naked body was found in isolated woods in Kotkhai tehsil’s Halaila village. 

Later, the police arrested at least six accused in connection with the case and produced them before a court in Theog. They were sent to a seven-day police remand. 

The police is tight-lipped about the inmate's death in the custody.

Meanwhile, the victim's family is claiming that the main accused in the rape-murder case, who belong to high-profile families, are being shielded by the police. 

On July 4, a 16-year-old girl was raped and murdered at the Kotkhai area of Shimla district after she was offered a lift in a car by a group of people. Her body was recovered from the nearby Halila forest two days later.

A massive protest began in Kotkhai area of Shimla almost a week back that has refused to die down till now.

Succumbing to public pressure, the Himachal government on Friday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case that has seen massive public outrage with a mob vandalising police vehicles outside the Theog police station. Calling the six arrests an 'eyewash', the crowd was demanding a CBI probe.