Lucknow, Sep 13 - About 150 teachers blocked the main Lucknow-New Delhi highway to protest the alleged rape and murder of a colleague in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district, police said Sunday.

The teachers blocked traffic on the highway Saturday evening after their colleague Aradhana Tiwari was found dead Thursday in a field of Bhadesar village in Sitapur, 85 km from state capital Lucknow.

A police officer said a criminal case has been lodged against the teachers who blocked the main Lucknow-New Delhi highway. The teachers were cane charged and a case was registered against them under Section 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public function) of the IPC Sunday.

Tiwari went missing Thursday while returning from a primary school in Bhadesar village where she taught.

'She was strangulated to death and some other reports are awaited to ascertain other charges,' Inspector R.P. Sahi of Kotwali police station said.