A special court for POCSO cases in Lakhimpur Kheri district on Friday convicted four accused for raping and murdering two Dalit sisters in Uttar Pradesh. The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on August 14. The incident happened under the jurisdiction of the Nighasan police station on September 14, 2022. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed by the district police and a case under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. and relevant sections of the IPC was registered.
The court found Junaid and Sunil alias Chhotu guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 363 (kidnapping of minors), 376-D (gangrape of woman under 16 years of age), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence related to crime) and Section 34 for committing crime with common intention of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), apart from the SC/ST Act. Two other accused Arif and Karimuddun were convicted under Section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence related to the crime) and SC/ST Act.
The Dalit sisters were found hanging from a tree last year. The Uttar Pradesh government had announced compensation of ₹25 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and a house.
