Meerut: Lalita Gautam and her family had no inkling what lay in store when she left for her BA final-year exam on 15 May. Two days later, the Meerut Police found her bruised body in a sugarcane farm.
The Dalit family’s struggle to ensure justice for the 20-year-old is now more than an individual fight—the circumstances surrounding her death and the subsequent caste protests have become a hot potato for the police force as well as the government in Uttar Pradesh.
The police action on protesters, including the Meerut Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) slapping detained demonstrators inside a van on Wednesday, has only fanned outrage against the dispensation.
Given the allegations of the police’s high-handedness, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh Police chief and the state home secretary regarding the events that took place during a 8 July demonstration in Meerut.
Police, meanwhile, have registered an FIR against 16 identified individuals and 25-50 other unidentified individuals. They have been booked under 14 sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Seven people have been arrested so far.
On Friday afternoon, Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar ‘Aazad’ confronted the police when his convoy was stopped at a toll plaza in Muzaffarnagar.
In related developments, Congress party chief Mallikarjun Kharge questioned Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath about the police action against protesters. Similarly, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati has appealed to the victim’s family and the Dalit community not to take the law into their own hands.
Though the police arrested Ankush Kumar, the prime suspect who allegedly confessed to the murder, Lalita’s family maintains that there were more perpetrators involved in her murder. They have also alleged that she was gang-raped, though the police have ruled it out. Ankush has been booked for abduction and murder.
“The post-mortem report reveals murder, and it does not point to rape. The cause of death was strangulation. The bone in her neck was broken,” Circle Officer, Brahmpuri Saumya, Asthana told ThePrint.
The autopsy report, seen by ThePrint, has no mention of rape.
The fateful day
Lalita had left home around 9 am for RG College in Meerut to appear for a political science examination. Her brother Teenu Gautam said that she was supposed to return by 5 pm, but she did not.
“When she didn’t return, we called multiple times (on her phone). Then we reached the college, where we found out that she didn’t appear for the exam. Late at night, we went to the police station to submit a missing person report,” Teenu told ThePrint
According to the police, she went missing on 15 May and her family approached the TP Nagar police station the next day. Her body was located from the site that came under the limits of the Rohta police station.
A senior police officer from Meerut told ThePrint that the investigation began right after they received the complaint. The body was found at a sugarcane field in Ukasiya forest near Kirot village, he added.
Ankush Kumar, the arrested prime accused, is said to have been trying to convince Lalita to get married with him.
“Ankush had been after Lalita for a very long time. He had been pressuring her to get married. She kept refusing his overtures. He then threatened her that he would kill her and her family if she kept refusing. Eventually, he did (take her life),” Lalita’s sister Tanu Gautam told ThePrint.
The main accused and the victim hail from the same village.
Tanu said Lalitha wanted to study and to attend coaching for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams.
“She scored 78 percent in intermediate, and her CGPA was 7.2. She loved to study and work hard. She did not want to settle now…Ankush forced her and took her life,” Tanu alleged.
Forensic and surveillance details led the police to Ankush. “The investigation revealed that Ankush and Lalita had been together. On the day of the incident, Ankush saw Lalita’s chat with another man on her mobile phone,” a police officer aware of the investigation findings told ThePrint.
This led to a dispute following which an enraged Ankush murdered Lalita and hid her body in the sugarcane field, according to the officer.
Protest & controversy
Sunil Gautam, a Dalit rights activist from west UP, told ThePrint that the protests were held only as a last resort. “So we decided to protest.”
Gautam and hundreds of protesters Wednesday gathered outside the Commissioner’s Square, which is the centre of the administrative and judicial system of Meerut district.
Dalit rights activists from Moradabad, Lucknow, Bulandshahr, Ghaziabad, Noida joined the protest.
मेरठ में दलित बेटी के लिए न्याय माँगने वालों के साथ पुलिस का बर्ताव देख लीजिए. pic.twitter.com/3MNJvahtqr
— Neha Singh Rathore (@nehafolksinger) July 9, 2026
The rights activist said that the police started removing the protesters aggressively even as the protesters were seated and protesting at a Dalit Mayapanchayat. “They started assaulting the protesters, misbehaved and removed all the protesters. This was a peaceful protest. All we were seeking was a proper investigation,” Gautam alleged.
Shoshit Kranti Dal (SKD) president Ravikant condemned the police lathicharge against the Dalit protesters staging a peaceful sit-in outside the Collectorate gate as wrong.
“This was utterly reprehensible and deserves strongest possible condemnation. We will meet the CM, and demand immediate and strict legal action against the police officers and personnel responsible for the lathi-charge,” he told ThePrint.
Police version
In a statement, SSP Meerut Avinash said that the police carried out arrests after some of the protesters “incited the victim’s family members, illegally blocked the road, instigated a crowd, and disrupted law and order.”
“There has been continuous communication between the family and the investigating officer, concerned station house officers, and other officials, and all issues raised by the family were satisfactorily addressed,” the SSP said.
Despite this, Pandey said, ‘unruly and unlawful elements’ incited the family and blocked the road.”
The blockade was not lifted despite repeated appeals as a result of which “the minimum force necessary to maintain law, order, and traffic flow was used to clear the road.”
“Based on an analysis of available video evidence and social media, individuals who orchestrated the road blockade, incited the public, and played an active role in the entire incident have been identified,” the statement said, adding that some of them have criminal records.
In the FIR lodged after Wednesday’s protest, a sub-inspector (SI) alleges that the gathering had taken place without administrative permission.
The SI alleged when the police tried to intervene, nobody heard them. Ravi Gautam, a Dalit rights activist, attempted suicide, the FIR mentioned.
Within a short span of time, more people arrived, “and they blocked a public road as part of a well-planned strategy and attempted to break down the gate of the District Magistrate’s office, forcing their way inside.”
“Their illegal actions, which were intended to disturb the peace, obstruct legitimate police investigations, prevent public servants from performing their duties, and cause public harm, resulted in chaos in a public place, posing a threat, obstruction, and inconvenience to the public,” the FIR said.
ThePrint has seen the contents of the FIR.
Appeals by the police and administrative officers were futile and instead the protesters scuffled with the police, it said.
“The protesters launched a deadly attack on the police force… Due to this some police personnel were seriously injured. Their lives were barely saved by fellow police personnel,” the FIR mentioned.
The fallout
What has fuelled outrage is the videos of the police action on the protesters that took place three days ago. “This is uniform-enabled goondagiri,” said one X account. “Is demanding justice for a Dalit daughter a crime now?” said another.
Political reactions have come from a cross section of leaders, ranging from Mayawati to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Wednesday’s event is extremely concerning, the BSP chief wrote on X.
“Article 19 of the Constitution grants every citizen the fundamental right to express their views and register their protest in a peaceful and non-violent manner. If force was used against people conducting a peaceful protest, there should be a fair and transparent investigation. And appropriate action should be taken against the guilty officials,” she posted.
Akhilesh slammed the Uttar Pradesh police as well, saying that “the police is breaking records of injustice in the BJP regime.”
“The assault and lathi charge on the victim’s family and other people for raising their voice for justice for Lalita Gautam, the daughter of the Dalit community in Meerut, is highly condemnable,” the SP chief said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)