Geeta’s body was found on the outskirts of the village on Saturday evening, and preliminary investigations and a post-mortem report indicated she might have been raped before she was killed. However, except for her face, which bore stab injuries, her body did not have any marks of struggle, leading the police to believe that she knew her attackers.

The panchayat’s conclusion was that if Geeta was raped, she must have struggled and left some marks on her assaulters. Once the police told them that they suspected a local, the panchayat decided to take matters in its own hands. To be fair, the physical “check” included members of the panchayat as well. Panchayat head Tara Rawat said their “investigation” indicated that the culprit may not be anyone from the village. “Nobody present there had any injury marks that seemed suspicious,” he stated.

Early on Monday morning, all men of the village were told to gather at Hatai Chok where the panchayat had organised a meeting. They were asked to strip to bare minimum and examined for “injuries” and “nail scratches” by the panchayat members in the presence of police.

“It is a ghastly act of rape and murder and we were keen on knowing who did it. We were only trying to help the police as they are still clueless,” said Rawat.

They are now waiting for one youth who left the village before sunrise on Monday. His parents have been asked to ensure that he returns before Friday. “If he does not return by Friday, we might be compelled to doubt him. However, this ‘drive’ was not against any individual or anybody in particular. This was our way of ensuring that nobody from the village was involved,” said Rawat.

Defending the police presence at the scene on Monday, Additional SP, Ajmer, Lalit Maheshwari stated that the police had nothing to do with the incident. “The police were not a party to it and it was entirely the panchayat’s decision to ask the men to strip. The policemen did not examine them, the village heads did. We are investigating the case independently, not based on the findings of the panchayat,” he said.