The Assam police has on Friday cracked the case of the gang rape in which the victim, a 23-year-old unmarried woman, was murdered on the night of April 28 by four men in Chepon under Moranhat police station in Sivasagar district of Assam.

The gruesome incident came to light when the police dug out the body of the victim who had gone to a cultural function organized in Chepon the previous night with some of her friends.

The local police immediately swung into action and picked up four youths who were the victim's neighbours and were seen with her on the night of the incident. The police said during interrogation the four confessed to murdering the woman after they had sexually assaulted her on the night of April 28. The accused had buried her body near a pond, close to her residence in Borbam village

The accused were identified as Shailen Gogoi (19), Manabendra Gogoi (23), Dip Gogoi (19) and Rajiv Gogoi (23).

The police informed that one of the accused, Rajiv Gogoi, had an affair with the victim who was also distantly related to him.

Realising that their families would never allow them to marry, the girl had given her consent to marry another youth from Khowang in neighbouring Dibrugarh district.

Rajiv along with his accomplices then planned the teach the woman a lesson and consequently ended up killing her after exploiting her sexually.  

All the accused were sent to Sivasagar district jail after they were produced in court.

The incident has evoked sharp reactions from the people in the locality, who called upon local lawyers to not defend the accused in court.