Horrific Gang Rape of Deaf-Mute Woman in Uttar Pradesh Sparks Outrage; Two Accused Injured In Police Encounter

A chilling incident has shaken the small district of Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh, where a 21 year-old deaf and mute woman was allegedly gang-raped on Monday night. The gruesome crime, captured in part by a viral CCTV video showing the victim desperately fleeing her attackers, has ignited widespread outrage and raised serious questions about public safety in the region.

The young woman, described as specially-abled by police, was walking home from her maternal uncle’s house, a short distance of about one kilometre, in the Bahadurpur area of Dehat Kotwali. Around 8 pm in the evening she was intercepted by a group of men on motorcycles. A 16-second CCTV clip, which has since gone viral on social media, shows the barefoot woman running in panic on a dimly lit, deserted road, pursued by several bike borne miscreants.

According to police, the attackers forcibly took her to a secluded field nearby, where she was subjected to a brutal gang rape. Unable to call for help due to her speech and hearing disabilities, the woman was left defenceless. When she failed to return home by 9 pm, her family grew alarmed and began a frantic search. They found her unconscious in a field near the Bahadurpur Police Post, her clothing in disarray. She was immediately rushed to the district women’s hospital, where medical examinations confirmed the assault. Doctors report that while she is physically stable, she remains deeply traumatised.

The victim’s brother lodged a complaint at the Kotwali Dehat police station, prompting an immediate investigation. Using the viral CCTV footage and other evidence, the Balrampur police identified two primary suspects, Ankur Verma (21) and Harshit Pandey (22). In the early hours of Wednesday, a police operation near the Dehat Kotwali area led to an encounter with the suspects, who were reportedly attempting to flee toward Nepal. During the confrontation, the accused allegedly opened fire on the police, leading to retaliatory action. Both suspects sustained injuries - one shot in the leg and the other injured while attempting to escape and were later arrested. They are currently hospitalised and have confessed to the crime during preliminary interrogation, according to Balrampur Superintendent of Police.

The police have registered a case under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for gang rape and are investigating the potential involvement of additional accomplices. Special teams have been deployed to analyse further evidence, including the motorcycle and a country made pistol seized from the suspects. The incident occurred in a highly sensitive area, just meters away from the residences of top district officials, including the District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police, and local judges. Shockingly, multiple CCTV cameras in the vicinity, including those near the Bahadurpur Police Post, were found to be non-functional at the time of the crime, raising serious concerns about surveillance and law enforcement negligence. The operational CCTV camera near the SP’s residence, which captured the viral footage, was the only one that aided the investigation.​