Lakhimpur Kheri: Elder sister gets minor raped, murdered by friends
After the alleged gang-rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district on Tuesday, seven accused, including the elder sister of the victim, were arrested on Wednesday. The police said that the minor was opposed to her sister's relations with some of the accused and that was the motive behind the crime. All the accused are adults.
4 accused gang-raped victim, 2 stood guard
Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjiv Suman said that the investigation revealed the victim was allegedly gang-raped by four accused--Ranjit Chauhan, Amar Singh, Ankit, and Sandip Chauhan. Meanwhile, two others--Deepu Chauhan and Arjun--reportedly stood guard in a sugarcane field. The victim was opposed to her 19-year-old sister's relationship with Ranjit, Amar, Ankit, and Sandip, the SP said.
Victim killed in sister's presence
The body of the girl with strangulation marks around her neck was recovered from a sugarcane field, the police said. The minor had gone to the field to attend to nature's call on Tuesday morning when the accused sexually assaulted her in the presence of her sister. Later, she was strangulated with a scarf. Her mutilated body was spotted by some villagers.
Accused sister feigned ignorance
The elder sister's illicit relationship with the accused often led to confrontations between the two. After the murder, the accused sister returned home and behaved as if nothing had happened, the police said. When her parents started searching for their missing daughter, the elder sister told her mother that she had gone to a particular cane field to relieve herself.
Accused confessed to the crime: Police
The crime spot was inspected by Inspector General of Police Laxmi Singh, Suman, additional SP Arun Kumar Singh, and DSP (Lakhimpur) Sandip Singh. The accused admitted to having committed the crime "to teach her a lesson" and have been sent to jail, the police said. "The incident reveals the extent of hatred in their mind for the younger sister," the SP said.