INDIA -- Several newspapers are reporting that three people have been charged in connection with the alleged rape and murder of a Dalit woman at a paper mill in Muzaffarnagar in UP, police said on Sunday.

The accused include the mill director, Arif, and a labour contractor, Samir, police said.

Meanwhile, protests broke out near Nagla village as people demanded justice in the case and blocked the Panipat-Khatima highway for several hours with the body of the victim.

The 38-year-old woman was working as a labourer in the paper mill where she was allegedly raped and murdered Friday night.

Police said the mill was owned by a BSP MLA.