E-Paper
Nighasan Horror: Fifth juvenile convicted in gangrape-murder case of minor sisters
A special Pocso court in Lakhimpur Kheri, India, has convicted a fifth juvenile delinquent for the brutal murder and gangrape of two minor sisters. The court found the juvenile guilty of murder, kidnapping, house-trespass, causing hurt, gangrape of a minor, destroying evidence, and violating the Pocso Act. The sentencing will be announced on August 25. This follows the sentencing of four other convicts by the same court earlier this month. The trial of the sixth juvenile is ongoing.
Lakhimpur Kheri: A special Pocso court convicted the fifth juvenile delinquent on Tuesday for the brutal murder and gangrape of two minor sisters in Nighasan Kotwali area on September 14, 2022.
The additional district judge, Special Pocso court, Rahul Singh, found the juvenile guilty under IPC sections 302/34 (murder), 363 (kidnapping), 452 (house-trespass with intent to hurt), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 376DA (gangrape of a minor under sixteen), 201 (destroying evidence), and section 5G/6 of the Pocso Act.
Brijesh Pandey, the special public prosecutor, said that the court will announce the sentence on August 25. This verdict follows the sentencing of four other convicts by the same court eight days prior.
Among six accused, four were sentenced on August 14. The trial of the sixth juvenile, below 16 years old, is ongoing in the juvenile justice board. The juvenile (between 16 and 18 years old) was tried in the special Pocso court, which found him guilty on Tuesday.
On August 14, the court sentenced Zunaid and Sunil (Chhotu) to life imprisonment and a ₹46,000 fine each. Karimuddin and Arif received six years of rigorous imprisonment and a ₹5,000 fine each.
To recall, two sisters, aged 17 and 15 and belonging to a scheduled caste community, were abducted, raped, and then strangled to death on September 14. Their bodies were found hanging from a tree in a sugarcane field, about a km away from their house. The double murder after the gangrape had shocked the district.
The police acted swiftly, apprehending six accused, including Chhotu (Sunil), identified by the mother of the girls. She had mentioned three unidentified youths in her complaint. The Kheri police identified Zunaid, Karimuddin, Asif, and two minors by September 15.
U.P. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condemned the incident, expressing grief and announcing ₹25 lakh compensation and a house for the family. He assured a fast-track trial for justice within a month.
Kheri SP Sanjiv Suman formed a special investigation team led by Nighasan DSP Sanjay Nath Tiwari to expedite the case. The SIT completed investigations within a fortnight and filed a chargesheet on September 28, 2022.
