3-year-old girl raped, murdered in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri, third such incident in 20 days
The post-mortem has confirmed that the girl, whose body was found in a sugarcane field near her village, was raped before her murder. Police had initially suspected the murder to be linked to enmity between two families
The post-mortem of a three-year-old girl has confirmed she was raped before her murder in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district, a police officer said on Friday. The girl’s body was found on Thursday in a sugarcane field near her village and police initially suspected the murder to be linked to enmity between two families.
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Lakhimpur Kheri police superintendent Satendra Kumar said a panel of three doctors, who conducted the post-mortem, has confirmed sexual assault. He added the Indian Penal Code’s sections related to rape and charges under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act have been added in the First Information Report (FIR) filed in the case based on the post-mortem report.
Kumar said the girl’s family had earlier alleged she was kidnapped and murdered due to old enmity and named one person from their village in the FIR.
Another police officer, who has been involved in the investigation, said the girl went missing on Wednesday and her body was found with multiple injury marks on Thursday. He added the post-mortem report findings confirmed that the girl was strangled using some cloth after being raped.
The second officer said a suspect was last spotted in the sugarcane field and disappeared after sensing trouble. He added the region is full of sugarcane fields, where the suspect is apparently hiding. The second officer said four teams were conducting a combing operation in the fields to arrest the suspect.
Three minor girls have been raped and murdered in Lakhimpur Kheri since August 14, when the first such case involving a 13-year-old girl was reported. Two men were arrested in connection with the first case. A 17-year-old Dalit girl was found dead with her throat slit in a pond outside her village on August 25.