Dalit Sisters Raped, Murdered In UP

Dalit Sisters Raped, Murdered In UP

Lakhimpur Kheri (UP): On Wednesday, A case under charges of rape, murder and child abuse has been filed after two minor sisters from Dalit community were found hanging from a tree in Lakhmipur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh. The accused have been taken into custody now.

The FIR has been filed against four persons, one of them from the same villager as the victims. The mother of the girls told the media and the police that the accused forcibly took away her daughters on two-wheelers.

She has alleged that the accused assaulted her when she tried to stop them. The family later looked for the girls and their bodies were found hanging from a tree. The woman has alleged that her daughters were raped and then brutally murdered.

The accused have been charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections relating to murder and rape, and also under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem. Laxmi Singh, Inspector General of Police, Lucknow Range, said the girls were found hanging by their own dupattas and there are no visible injuries. Post-mortem examination of the bodies started this morning. 

Local residents protested when the police went to the victims' home to take the bodies for post-mortem. In a video, district police chief Sanjeev Suman is heard asking the protesters to lift the road block. Following a heated exchange, police were eventually able to send the bodies for autopsy.

The incident in Lakhimpur Kheri has triggered a political storm, with the Opposition Samajwadi Party and the Congress targeting the Yogi Adityanath government over the law and order situation in the state.

"In the Yogi government, goons are harassing mothers and sisters every day, which is very shameful. The government should get the matter investigated, the culprits should get the harshest punishment," the Samajwadi Party tweeted.

Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted images of a protest. The girls' father, he wrote in the post, has alleged that the postmortem was done without consent and in violation of procedure.