Six men were arrested on September 15 in connection with the alleged rape and murder of two teenage Dalit sisters in Lakhimpur Kheri, police said.
Six persons have been arrested on charges of rape and murder of two teenage Dalit sisters who were found hanging from a tree under the Nighasan police station limits in Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.
Addressing a press conference, Sanjiv Suman, Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police said, “Yesterday, the victims were coaxed and taken to the farm and both were sexually abused. Two accused have confessed to having forceful sexual relations with the girls.”
Also read: Women’s security cannot be expected from those facilitating release of rapists: Rahul Gandhi
The police have registered a case under sections 302, 323, 452, 376 and 3/4 POCSO Act. In Lucknow Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said, “All the six accused namely Junaid, Suhail, Chhote, Hafizur Rahman, Karimuddin and Chhotu have been arrested while a 315 bore pistol, 2 live cartridges and an empty shell have been recovered from the main accused Junaid’s son Israel.”
The family of the deceased who were reluctant to perform the last rites agreed after getting assurance of financial help and other aid from the U.P. government. The post mortem of the bodies was video graphed and the bodies were handed over to the family for cremation. The administration has also agreed for the trial of the case in a fast-track court.
On Wednesday, after the incident, family members’ of the victims and villagers staged a demonstration at the Nighasan crossing, a few kilometers from the spot demanding strict action against the culprits. The State administration was forced to immediately rush Inspector-General Lucknow range Laxmi Singh to the spot and searches were conducted by the police at different places to nab the accused.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also instructed officials to provide ₹25 lakh, a house and farming land to the victims family in the Lakhimpur Kheri case.
In the aftermath of the incident Opposition parties trained their guns on the ruling BJP government alleging that the killing of the two Dalit girls is repeat of ‘Hathras ki beti’ episode.
"The heartbreaking incident in Lakhimpur Kheri where two Dalit daughters were abducted and raped in front of their mother and their bodies were hanged from a tree is in discussion everywhere, any type of condemnation for such heinous crime is less. In Uttar Pradesh criminals are moving fearlessly because the priorities of the government are wrong,” Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president and former Chief Minister Mayawati wrote on Twitter.
Former U.P. Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said, “The killing of Dalits after farmers in Lakhimpur is a heinous repeat of the 'Hathras ki beti' murder. Police atrocities on Dalit sisters and daughters and poor are not stopping under the BJP rule. The BJP government has been flooded with incidents of rape and murder of women and daughters. The police are lynching innocents by implicating them in false cases while those who commit crime are fearless.”
