Dalit girl had turned him down. He wanted to avenge insult: Cops on Unnao case

Two persons including a minor have been caught by the police for the murder of two teenage girls found in a field in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district, a senior police officer said on Friday evening. A third girl, the oldest of the three, is in critical condition in a Kanpur hospital.

The prime accused, Vinay Kumar, 21, wanted to rape one of three girls who had turned him down earlier. He offered her water laced with a pesticide in the hope that she would fall unconscious. But the other two also drank from the same bottle. Vinay Kumar panicked when all three fell unconscious and fled with his accomplice, Lucknow Range inspector general Laxmi Singh told reporters in state capital Lucknow.

Vinay's family owns a field next to the one owned by one of the girl’s fathers. During the lockdown, Vinay regularly visited the field, so did the girls, to collect fodder. He came closer to one of them and met her frequently. Vinay wanted to develop physical intimacy with the girl but she rejected his overtures regularly, said the police.

“Vinay told the police he had asked for her phone number, proposed to her but she always refused. He was angry with her and sought revenge for his insult,” said Singh.

"On the fateful, day he reached the fields with his friend. He offered the girls some chips. Then the girl he eyed asked for water. He gave her water that was laced with pesticides. Soon, the two other girls also drank from the bottle, he told the police," said Singh.

As the girls complained of vertigo and fell unconscious, Vinay and his friend panicked. They dragged them to their field and ran away.

With the help of villagers, the police learnt about Vinay’s presence in his field at the time the girls were there. The Special Operation Group team picked him up with three others from Pathakpur village. The brothers of the girls were also detained for questioning.

One of the brothers remained a key suspect as he was unable to account for his four-hour-long absence from the village. Both the brothers were released on Thursday night and Friday noon respectively.

Vinay broke down when his location was also found at the field during the time of the commission of the crime and as per some eyewitness account of people who had seen them fleeing the field in a state of panic.

While Vinay is 21 years old, the minor is 15, according to the police. Both accused have been held on charges under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The police have also slapped Section 201 against the accused for disappearance of evidence on a complaint of a victim’s father, police said.