The Uttar Pradesh government has come under fresh criticism after a 13-year-old girl was raped and strangulated to death in a field in Lakhimpur Kheri district.
Talking to media, the victim’s father had claimed that upon discovering the body in a sugarcane field, he saw it was mutilated. However, the district police chief on Sunday said the reports of mutilation were “completely false.”
The post-mortem report only confirmed rape, said Satendra Kumar, SP Kheri.
Mr. Kumar, however, said that while the body had some blood stains near the eye, she may have received cut marks from the sugarcane leaves. And the tongue getting pressed between the teeth was a sign of strangulation, Mr. Kumar said.
Two accused, both locals, were arrested and police said they were being booked under the stringent National Security Act.
The girl's body was found in a sugarcane field hours after she had stepped out to answer the call of nature, police said.
Shameful, says Mayawati
BSP chief Mayawati said the minor Dalit girl’s rape and “brutal” murder was shameful. “With such incidents, what difference is there between the SP government and the current BJP government,” she asked in a tweet, demanding strict action.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the incident had “shaken humanity”. The oppression of girls and women under the BJP rule in U.P. was at its peak, he said.
Ajay Kumar Lallu, Congress U.P. president, said the incident had shamed the entire society and claimed there was a “jungle raj” in the State.
“BJP chants ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, but is not able to provide security to [our] daughters,” he said. “There is lawlessness everywhere, criminals are fearless,” he said.
