In a tragic incident that has sent shockwaves through Uttarakhand’s Udham Singh Nagar district, a nurse was brutally raped and murdered while returning home from a private hospital. The accused, Dharmendra, was arrested on August 14, following an intense manhunt.
The nurse, who was working at a hospital in Rudrapur, left her workplace on the evening of July 30. CCTV footage captured her boarding an e-rickshaw from Indra Chowk in Rudrapur, but she never made it to her rented accommodation on Kashipur Road in Bilaspur, Uttar Pradesh, where she lived with her 11-year-old daughter. When she failed to return home, her sister filed a missing person report the next day.
For eight agonizing days, her family and authorities searched for her. On August 8, the Uttar Pradesh police discovered her body in an empty plot, just 1.5 km from her house in Dibdiba village. Her remains were sent for a post-mortem, and a dedicated police team was formed to track down the perpetrator.
The breakthrough came when the police traced the victim’s stolen mobile phone to Dharmendra, a daily wage laborer from Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. He was arrested in Rajasthan on August 14. According to the police, Dharmendra, who was intoxicated at the time, spotted the nurse as she was about to enter her apartment building. He followed her, then attacked, dragged her into nearby bushes, and committed the heinous crime.
“He raped and strangled her using her scarf,” said Manjunath TC, Senior Superintendent of Police, Udham Singh Nagar. Dharmendra also stole the victim’s phone and ₹3,000 from her purse.
“The accused is a drug addict and did not know the victim. On the day of the incident, he saw her walking alone. She fought back fiercely, but he overpowered her, strangled her to death, and sexually assaulted her,” SSP Manjunath TC told The Indian Express.
This horrific crime comes amid a backdrop of nationwide outrage over the recent rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The doctor, who was found semi-naked in the seminar hall of the government-run hospital, was attacked during her duty hours. The incident has reignited calls for better safety measures for healthcare workers.
In response, resident doctors across the country have begun protesting, demanding the swift passage of the Central Healthcare Protection Act, which aims to curb attacks on medical personnel. The nurse’s brutal murder has further underscored the urgent need for enhanced security measures for women and healthcare workers.
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