Lakhimpur rape-murder case: Family of accused claims their sons innocent, says 'they would have fled if guilty'

Six men were arrested on Thursday in connection with the alleged rape and murder of two teenage Dalit sisters who were found hanging from a tree in sugarcane field in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district.

The post-mortem report revealed that the girls, aged 15 and 17, were raped and then strangled. The bodies were found hanging about a kilometre away from their home on Wednesday. 

India Today quoted family members of the accused denying all the allegations and claimed that their sons were innocent. 

Meanwhile, the girls' relatives demanded a government job for a family member, adequate compensation and the death sentence to the six accused before the victims' last rites are performed.

While the police confirmed that the accused were adults, UP Deputy Chief Minister said that the government will take action in such a way that the “souls of their coming generations will also shiver”. 

India Today quoted family members of the four accused claiming that their sons left the house ‘together’ to purchase rations. They said that their sons had stepped out between 1 and 4 pm. The family members also claimed that they would have fled the scene of the crime and the area, had they committed any crime.

Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjiv Suman told reporters that according to preliminary probe the girls had left their home on Wednesday afternoon with two of the accused. The girl's mother had earlier alleged that they were abducted.

He said  Junaid and Sohail were in a relationship with the two sisters, who insisted on marriage, after which they were strangled. The others arrested were identified as Hafizur Rehman, Karimuddin, Arif and Chottu.

The victims' mother had lodged a complaint at the Nighasan Kotwali police station on Wednesday night, alleging that her daughters were raped and murdered.

She alleged that three motorcycle-borne unidentified youths, along with her neighbour Chhotu, stormed into their hutment and abducted her daughters.

Police have registered a case against the six accused under Sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 376 (rape) and 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint) of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

A statement from Lakhimpur Kheri said provisions of the SC/ST Act have also been included in the FIR.