Thirteen women were allegedly gangraped by armed bandits at a brick-kiln owned by a ruling Samajwadi Party leader in a remote village in Ballia district, about 400 km from Lucknow in the eastern corner of Uttar Pradesh.
Mostly in their twenties, the women, hailing from Jharkhand state, were working as labourers, often known to be exploited at the hands of their employers.
While the incident took place around midnight on Wednesday, information reached the state headquarters in Lucknow on Friday.
Apparently, local cops were out to give it a twist with an obvious intent to protect the culprits until a diktat was issued by director general of police Bua Singh to register the
case.
"The Ballia police have registered a case of gangrape against unidentified armed bandits who were also alleged to have looted personal belongings including jewellery of the women, engaged as ordinary labourers at the brick-kiln in Sihoridih village under Bhimpur police station", Singh told this scribe.
However, police have failed to apprehend any of the culprits or make any arrests in the case so far.
"Action would follow only after medical confirmation of the rape," the state police chief said.
Women labourers from Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar often seek employment in UP and Punjab, where job opportunities are relatively better on account of greater construction activity.