3-year-old Raped and Murdered in UP's Lakhimpur Kheri, Third Incident in District in Three Weeks

4 Sep, 2020

A three-year-old girl found dead in a sugarcane field in Uttar Pradesh�s Lakhimpur Kheri on Thursday was raped and strangled to death, police said on Friday. The girl had gone missing on Wednesday and her dead body was found with injury marks on Thursday.

This is the third incident of rape and murder in Lakhimpur Kheri district in the last 20 days.

The family has alleged that their daughter was kidnapped and murdered due to old enmity. The girl�s father, in his complaint, has named one Lekharam, from the same village, police said.

Initially the police suspected it to be a case of murder. However, a panel of three doctors conducted an autopsy on Thursday and confirmed strangulation and rape.

"The postmortem report has confirmed rape. I am with family members right now. Seven of our teams are working on the case. I am myself going for combing in sugarcane fields and strict action will be taken against the accused," Superintendent of Police, Satyendra Kumar Singh, said.

Earlier on August 14, a 13-year-old girl was raped and murdered in Isanagar police station area. Police had arrested two men and had said that strict action will be taken against the accused under the National Security Act (NSA).

It was followed by a similar incident of rape on August 24 in Neemgaon area where a 17-year-old Dalit girl was found dead outside her village after she had left home to fill out a scholarship application, police had said.

The third incident of rape and murder has raised the issue of worsening law and order situation in the district under the Yogi Adityanath government. Opposition parties have also voiced their angst against the government on the issue of law and safety.

"Even after so many incidents our 'tough' Chief Minister has not fixed responsibility. A dying system and a helpless Chief Minister," tweeted state Congress Chief Ajay Kumar Lalu.