A gang of highway robbers allegedly dragged off and raped four women in a field in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budh Nagar early on Thursday after ambushing their car, police said. A male relative trying to rescue them was shot dead, reported Hindustan Times.

The family of eight was travelling to Bulandshahr from Greater Noida when they were ambushed by the gang – comprising six members – around 1.30 am. The family alleged that the gang first looted their cash and valuables and then assaulted the women. Police said the women were being examined in hospital and two teams of policemen were still on the lookout for the suspects.

Love Kumar, senior superintendent of Gautam Budh Nagar, said an FIR had been registered, and the post-mortem examination for the deceased was being carried out.

In July 2016, a group of highway robbers raped a mother and her 13-year-old daughter in Bulandshahr. The family of five was heading to Shahjahanpur when they were attacked around 1.30 am on the Ghaziabad-Aligarh highway at Dostpur village, near Bulandshahr. The incident had led to widespread protests, and political backlash for the Akhilesh Yadav government, which was in power at the time.