Dalit Sisters Found Hanging From Tree In UP, Case Of Rape, Murder Filed
A case under charges of rape, murder and child abuse has been filed after two sisters, both minors, from Dalit community were found hanging from a tree in Lakhmipur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh yesterday. The accused have been taken into custody.
Here are the 10 latest developments:
The First Information Report (FIR) has been filed against four persons, one of them from the same villager as the victims. The mother of the girls has told the media and the police that the accused forcibly took away her daughters in motorcycles.
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 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.
Police faced protests by local residents when they 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 shocking incident has brought back the horrifying memories of the 2014 incident in Badaun, when the bodies of two cousins were found hanging from a tree.
The incident in Lakhimpur Kheri has triggered a political storm, with Opposition Samajwadi Party and the Congress targeting the Yogi Adityanath government over the law and order situation in the state.
“In Yogi government, goons are harassing mothers and sisters every day, 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.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said criminals “have no fear” in Uttar Pradesh because the government’s “priorities are wrong”. She said the incident in Lakhimpur Kheri exposes the state government’s claims on maintaining law and order and ensuring safety of women.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also targeted the state’s BJP government. “The incident of murder of two sisters in Lakhimpur (UP) is heart-wrenching. The relatives say that those girls were abducted in broad daylight. Giving false advertisements in newspapers and TV every day does not improve law and order.
After all, why are heinous crimes against women increasing in UP?” she tweeted in Hindi.