Uttar Pradesh: 13-year-old girl raped, strangled to death in Lakhimpur Kheri, 2 arrested
A 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped and strangled to death in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district. Two men from her village have been arrested. The body of the girl was found in a sugarcane field owned by one of the accused. The incident took place on Friday, around 130 km from Lucknow, in a village close to the Nepal border. The father of deceased alleged her eyes were gouged out and her tongue cut.
The girl had gone missing earlier in the afternoon. When she did not return home till late evening, her parents and relatives started looking for her. They noticed some dragging marks near a sugarcane field and found her body, the police said. The girl's father has denied enmity with anyone in the village, they said.
“We went looking for her everywhere and found her in the sugarcane field,” the girl’s father said. “Her eyes had been gouged out. Her tongue was cut and strangled with a dupatta.”
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Dhaurahra, Abhishek Pratap along with Isanagar police officials rushed to the spot and carried out preliminary investigations which led to the arrest of two men on Friday night, they added.
However, the police said the autopsy mentioned rape and strangulation. "He eyes were not gouged and tongue was not cut. The claim is not true. There is nothing in the post-mortem report to suggest this. There were scratches near the eyes, likely due to the sharp sugarcane leaves where the body was found," SP of Kheri Satendra Kumar said.
“The two accused had been arrested already,” Kheri Superintendent of Police Satendra Kumar said. “We will file charges for rape, murder and also under the National Security Act.”
Meanwhile, Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati condemned the incident on Twitter calling it "extremely shameful". "What is the difference between the governments of the Samajwadi Party and the present BJP if such incidents keep happening?" she said, attacking the Yogi Adityanath administration.
