Lakhimpur Kheri horror: 2 dalit sisters raped and hanged, 6 arrested

Lakhimpur Kheri: In a grim reminder of 2011 Nighasan case, two sisters belonging to Dalit community, were raped, murdered and there bodies were hanged from a tree in Lakhimpur Kheri district here in Uttar Pradesh, a senior officer said here on Thursday.

Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Suman said that six persons have been arrested in this connection.

He said that the bodies of the minors were found hanging from a tree in the Nighasan area on Wednesday evening.

"The police have arrested six persons in this connection. On being quizzed the accused said that the victims were friends with them," he said.

The SP said that one of the accused Chottu introduced the victims with Junaid, Suhail and Hafizurrehman.

"On Wednesday afternoon the trio went to meet the victims from where Junaid, Suhail and Hafiz took the girls on the pretext of bike ride," he said.

He said that the accused took the victims to fields where they made physical relationships with the girls against their wishes.

"After this the girls insisted on the accused to marry them. The accused have revealed that perturbed with the persistence of the girls, they strangulated them with the scarf and killed them," he said.

The SP said that later the accused called their acquaintances Kareemuddin and Arif alias Chhote on the spot and with their help hanged the bodies of the victims from the tree and escaped.

"While four were arrested late on Wednesday, two others, including the main accused Junaid, were arrested on Thursday morning after a brief encounter.

"Junaid has sustained bullet injury in this leg," he said.

He said those arrested have been identified as Junaid, Suhail, Hafizurrehman, Arif alias Chhote, Kareemuddin alias DD and Chottu.

"On the complaint of the mother of the victims an FIR has been lodged against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and POCSO Act. The accused are being quizzed further," he said.

The SP said that the post mortem of the victims is being done by a panel of doctors and the entire process is being videographed. "Further details will be known after the post mortem report is received," he said.

In 2011 the body of a minor girl was found hanging from a tree inside Nighasan police station in similar circumstances. The matter was later investigated by the CBI. (UNI)