Dalit girls' killers to be tried in fast-track court, UP assures harshest punishment

Uttar Pradesh's deputy chief ministers on Thursday assured strict action against the culprits in the rape and murder of two Dalit girls in UP's Lakhimpur Kheri and urged the opposition to “console the family instead of politicising the matter”.

"Lakhimpur incident is sad and unfortunate. Harshest action to be taken against all criminals. I'd expect the Opposition, whether Akhilesh Yadav, Priyanka Gandhi or Mayawati, that instead of politicising, they console the family. But the rule of law has prevailed in UP," said Deputy Chief Minister KP Maurya.

Meanwhile, assuring justice to the Dalit girls, Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said, "The government will take such an action that the souls of their (culprits') coming generations will also shiver."

"Justice will be given; proceedings via fast-track court," Pathak added.

Lakhimpur Kheri's Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Suman informed on Thursday that a total of six persons, identified as Chotu, Junaid, Sohail, Hafizul, Karimuddin and Arif were arrested in the case.

According to the SP, the accused Junaid was nabbed in an encounter where he was shot in the leg and disclosed that the accused were friends with the deceased girls.

"The girls were lured to a farm yesterday and raped by Sohail and Junaid. After the girls wanted the accused to marry them, Sohail, Hafizul, and Junaid strangulated and killed them. They then called Karimuddin and Arif and hanged the girls to eliminate any proof," SP Sanjeev Suman said.

As per Suman, all the accused persons except Chotu hailed from Lalpur village in Lakhimpur Kheri.

Chotu, who was the girls’ neighbour, had introduced them to the boys and he too has been arrested, the SP added.

He further added that this was a preliminary probe and the post-mortem will start in about 2-3 hours.

On Wednesday evening, the bodies of two minor sisters were found hanging from a tree in Lalpur Majra Tamoli Purva village under the Nighasan police station of Lakhimpur Kheri district.

Local villagers and the girls' family lodged a protest as they marched and blocked the road demanding justice for the victims.

The family of the deceased had accused three men of rape and murder and staged a demonstration at the Nighasan crossing, a few kilometres from the village.

SP Sanjeev Suman, along with the police force, rushed to the protest site and assured villagers that strict action will be taken against the accused.

Lucknow range inspector general (IG) of police Laxmi Singh, while talking to ANI, had said, "Dead bodies of two girls were found hanging from a tree in a field outside a village in Lakhimpur Kheri. No injuries were found on the bodies."

The police officials present there had also urged the villagers to call off their roadblock and cooperate with the post-mortem examination.