In a shocking incident, a headless body of a young woman was found in Lakkhipura area of Meerut district on Friday.

The body of the woman, who police believe was in her twenties, was first spotted by locals in a drain near lane number 28 in Lakkhipura area. The police believe that the murder was committed elsewhere and the headless body was abandoned in the drain to conceal the victim’s identity.

The body was sent for autopsy.

The police spokesman said that a team of forensic experts also visited the spot. Police teams have been formed to contact locals and collect details of any missing woman in the area. Wireless messages have been sent to gather the list of women reported missing in the nearby towns. The identity of the woman is yet to be known.

Last month, a highly decomposed headless body of a woman was found in a similar manner in a drain in Meerut's Cantonment area.

Meanwhile in Amroha, the police arrested a 22-year-old man accused in a rape case, only after the woman complainant committed suicide. A suicide note was recovered from the woman's home in which she blamed the accused for taking her life, police added.

According to the police, the woman's family alleged that the accused had been harassing her after being released from jail on bail.

A case was registered against four persons, including the rape accused, his brother and friends on charges of abetment to suicide. Police also arrested a friend of the accused on Wednesday.

“The woman's elder brother found her body in her room on Wednesday morning. He immediately alerted the police. The girl's family also handed over a suicide note to the police. During investigation, we came to know that on March 17, the woman had filed a rape case against the youth. He was arrested and sent to jail. He recently came out on bail,” the police added.

The woman's family told police that after getting out on bail, the accused had been regularly harassing them. Recently, he filed a petition in a court against the woman's family. In the petition, he claimed that he had married the woman. The court had issued notice to the woman.

Her family alleged that the deceased had been very disturbed ever since she received the court notice, said a senior police officer.

Angered over the woman's death, the locals staged a protest near her house to demand the arrest of the accused. They ended the protest after police assured them of action.

Meanwhile in Ayodhya, two Dalit sisters were allegedly gang-raped by three men after being held captive.

The victims, one of whom is a minor, were sent for medical examination, the police said.

The incident took place when the sisters were reportedly returning from Sherpurpura market near their village under Bikapur police station.

The three accused held them captive and allegedly outraged their modesty after taking them to a sugarcane field. They threatened the victims of dire consequences and fled.

Bikapur’s Circle Officer Pramod Kumar Yadav said that an extensive search had been launched to nab the accused.

The two girls informed their family members about the incident a day after their return, after which a written application was submitted to the police. Initially, some local cops tried to hush up the matter but later registered the FIR after intervention of some senior police officials, according to the victim's father.

The FIR has been registered against one Bhai Lal Yadav, Tribhuvan Yadav and an unidentified person under sections 376-D (gang-rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (insulting) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.

The circle officer said charges under atrocities against Dalits and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences were also slapped against the accused persons.