Gonda, Feb 27 (PTI) Hours before Gonda went to polls on Sunday, Samajwadi Party candidate from Colonelganj Assembly constituency, his brothers and supporters were booked for allegedly raping a woman and beating her up.

Police said they booked SP candidate Yogesh Pratap Singh and others on Saturday night after they allegedly barged into the residence of the woman, and assaulted her and her family members for ‘supporting the BJP'.

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The woman was cooking at her house. Singh, his two brothers and supporters barged into her house and picked up a fight. When her family members resisted, they were beaten up.

They also allegedly opened fired and snatched the woman's gold necklace, the police said citing the complaint.

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Singh's supporters allegedly told the woman that voting for the BJP will prove to be costly. After this, they took her to the fields and allegedly raped her, the police further said.

Superintendent of Police Santosh Kumar Mishra said two persons have been taken into custody.

Police force has been deployed outside the residences of Singh and his supporters to keep a watch over them, and security has been provided to BJP candidate Ajay Kumar Singh, the SP said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)