13-year-old girl gang raped, murdered in Lakhimpur Kheri; elder sister among seven arrested
The younger sister’s opposition to the elder’s relations with some of the accused was the motive for the crime, the police said.
Seven accused were arrested on Wednesday, hours after the gang rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl in Lakhimpur Kheri district on Tuesday, the police said. An elder sister of the victim was among those arrested. The younger sister’s opposition to the elder’s relations with some of the accused was the motive for the crime, the police said. The incident took place in a village under the city kotwali police station limits.
All the accused were in the 18 to 19 years age-group, said Lakhimpur Kheri superintendent of police (SP) Sanjiv Suman. He said investigation revealed that the victim was gang raped by four accused —Ranjit Chauhan, Amar Singh, Ankit and Sandip Chauhan — while two others Deepu Chauhan and Arjun stood guard in a sugarcane field.
The elder sister of the girl abetted the accused in the crime, the SP said.
The 13-year-old girl’s opposition to her elder sister’s friendship and “relations” with Ranjit, Amar, Ankit and Sandip was the motive for the crime, the SP said.
The issue had led to frequent disputes between the victim and her elder sister in the past, he added.
The SP said the elder sister took the 13-year-old girl to a sugarcane field nearby on the pretext of answering nature’s call on Tuesday morning.
Ranjit, Amar, Ankit and Sandip sexually assaulted the younger girl there in the presence of the elder sister while their accomplices Deepu and Arjun stood guard.
Later, the accused strangled the girl with her scarf to conceal their identity.
The elder sister returned home after the murder and feigned ignorance about the victim’s absence from home, the police said.
Later, the victim’s body with strangulation marks around her neck was recovered from a sugarcane field.
Inspector general of police Laxmi Singh, SP Sanjiv Suman, additional SP Arun Kumar Singh and DSP (Lakhimpur) Sandip Singh inspected the crime spot.
The Kheri SP engaged forensic experts and crime branch sleuths to gather evidence.
The SP announced a ₹20,000 cash reward for the police team which claimed to have solved the case.