Two minor Dalit sisters found hanging from tree in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri; case filed against 4 under POCSO

In yet another nerve-racking incident from Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri, two Dalit teenage sisters were found hanging from a tree in a sugarcane field in Lalpur Majra Tamoli Purva village under the Nighasan police station on Wednesday evening, police said. Six men have been arrested on Thursday in connection with the alleged rape and murder of two sisters, police said.

“We have arrested Junaid, Sohail, Hafizur Rehman, Karimuddin, Arif and Chottu in an overnight operation,” Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjiv Suman told reporters. Junaid and Sohail were allegedly in a relationship with the two sisters, he said.

“According to preliminary investigation, the two sisters left their home on Wednesday afternoon after they were persuaded by Junaid and Sohail. Junaid and Sohail have confessed that they strangulated the girls after raping them,” the SP said.

The duo then called Karimuddin and Arif to dispose of their bodies. They later hanged the bodies from a tree to make it look like suicide, Suman said. An FIR has been registered under sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said.

A post-mortem examination is underway at the district hospital. Everything is being done with the consent of the girls’ family members, he said.

MURDER, RAPE CASE FILED IN LAKHIMPUR KHERI TWIN DEATHS

The mother of the girls alleged that they were murdered and accused three youths from the neighbouring village in Nighasan police station limits of abducting and killing them. She said that her daughters were kidnapped by three bike-borne men at nearly 3 p.m. on Wednesday and were later found hanging from a tree in a cane field. The girls’ family alleged that they were allegedly raped and murdered.

As per the FIR, the main accused, Chotu, along with his friends barged into the house of the victims and forcefully took them on a motorbike. The accused also thrashed their mother, raped the two sisters and hung their bodies on a tree, the FIR said.

As soon as the news broke, police rushed to the spot, and the bodies of two minor sisters, belonging to the Scheduled Caste community, were sent for post-mortem to ascertain their exact cause of death.

Following the family’s accusations, a case under charges of rape, murder, and child abuse has been registered.

Lucknow range inspector general (IG) of police Laxmi Singh said, “Dead bodies of two girls were found hanging from a tree in a field outside a village in Lakhimpur Kheri. No injuries were found on the bodies.”