A nine-year-old girl who was allegedly raped and strangulated on the outskirts of her village in Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh on March 10 succumbed to her injuries, police said.
The girl was allegedly lured into the fields and raped. In his police complaint, her father said that around 3 p.m. on March 10, the village headman’s brother Neetu informed him that his daughter was lying unconscious in a bush outside the village. “I have a suspicion that my daughter was raped and strangulated in an attempt to kill her,” the father said in the FIR.
Unnao SP Vikrant Vir said on March 10 the police received information that a minor girl was raped under the Bihar police station and that there had been an attempt to strangulate her to death.
Police immediately reached the spot and admitted her to the district hospital, he said.
The minor was then referred to the Hailet hospital in Kanpur through the advanced support system ambulance. “We inspected the spot and unfortunately the girl could not survive,” said Mr. Vir.
Four police teams have been formed to investigate the case.
A case was initially registered against unknown persons for rape, attempt to murder, culpable homicide and the POCSO Act at the Bihar police station.
Taking cognisance of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials to immediately make arrests in the case and that strict Sections of law be applied.
He also directed senior police officers to conduct a review of the investigation done in such cases in Unnao.
Last year, a 23-year-old from the same area in Unnao died after being set ablaze allegedly by five persons, including two who she had accused of rape. In another case, former BJP MLA from Bangermau Kuldeep Singh Sengar was recently convicted of raping a woman in 2017 and sentenced to life.
