Amethi mass murders: Victim had lodged FIR against accused for ‘eve-teasing’

As Chandan Verma, accused of murdering a Dalit family in Amethi, has been moved to the district jail on Sunday, the initial probe has established that victim Poonam had lodged an FIR against Chandan in Rae Bareli for “eve-teasing”.

The government school teacher, his 32-year-old wife Poonam and their two daughters, Drishti and Suni, were shot dead in the Ahorwa Bhawani area of Amethi on October 3.

Verma, a resident of Raebareli, told the police that he reached the victims’ house on Thursday, got enraged over a discussion there and shot the family members, PTI reported.

He confessed to killing all four of them.

Verma said he had an affair with Poonam for the last 18 months, adding the relationship later turned due to which he got stressed, and this led to the killings.

During the initial investigation, the police found that Poonam had lodged an FIR against the accused in Rae Bareli on August 18 for eve-teasing and under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The complainant had also mentioned that “if anything happens to her or her family”, Verma should be held responsible for it.

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Earlier, Verma was presented in court on Saturday evening before being remanded to jail. Jail Superintendent Aman Kumar confirmed that Verma arrived at the facility around 8 PM on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath met the family members of the deceased.

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“The accused also said that he had tried to kill himself but the pistol misfired,” the police said.

Superintendent of Police Anoop Kumar Singh earlier said that Verma had fired 10 shots from a pistol.

Referring to a social media post by Verma, Singh said, “He intended to shoot himself after killing the four family members. He was the fifth person but his suicide attempt failed.”

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The bodies of the Dalit school teacher and his wife, who were shot dead along with their two daughters, were consigned to flames on Saturday at the Gola Ganga Ghat here, while the children were buried.

Bhanu, the brother of the deceased woman Poonam, has refuted Verma’s claims of illicit relationship with his sister.

“He (Chandan) used to force my sister to speak with him. He also took pictures with her forcefully, that are now being circulated,” said Bhanu.

Accusing the police of inaction, he said, “Had the local police taken action against Chandan after my sister lodged an FIR, this incident would have not happened.”

In the wake of the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath paid his condolences to the victims’ kin, while the opposition launched a sharp attack against the BJP government over the law and order situation in the state.

(With input from agencies)