Uttar Pradesh: Four accused have been taken into custody in connection with the the death of two minor sisters, belonging to the scheduled caste community, who were found hanging from a tree under the Nighasan police station limits of Lakhimpur Kheri district on Wednesday evening.
Additional SP Arun Kumar Singh said that FIR has been lodged against one neighbouring youth identified as Chhotu, and three unidentified youths under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (for murder), 323 (for voluntarily causing hurt), 452 (for criminal house trespass) and 376 (for rape). Sections 3 and 4 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) act have also been included. The FIR was lodged as per the sequence of incidents told by the girls’ mother and allegations levelled by her, said Singh.
Local villagers and the girls’ family accused three men of abduction and murder and staged a demonstration at the Nighasan crossing, a few kilometres from the village. The mother of the girls has alleged that three youngsters of the neighbouring village on a bike abducted the two girls from near a hutment while the two sisters were cutting fodder.
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
Comments are closed.