Lakhimpur Kheri: A 13-year-old girl was brutally raped and strangled to death in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district, following which two men have been arrested.
The incident took place on Friday under Isanagar police station limits, the police said.
Her body was found in a sugarcane field reportedly owned by one of the accused on Saturday.
The district police chief Satyendra Kumar said, "The girl's post mortem has confirmed rape. The two accused had been arrested already. We will file charges for rape, murder and also book them under the National Security Act."
The teenager had gone to her fields on Friday afternoon. When she did not return home till late evening, her parents and relatives started looking for her. They noticed some dragging marks near a sugarcane field and found her body, the police said.
The girl's father has denied enmity with anyone in the village, they said.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Dhaurahra, Abhishek Pratap along with Isanagar police officials rushed to the spot and carried out preliminary investigations which led to the arrest of two men on Friday night, they added.
"On the complaint by the deceased's father, two youths identified as Sanjay and Santosh have been arrested," DSP Pratap told PTI.
An FIR has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code besides the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and the SC/ST Act, he said.
Pratap said reports that the girl was brutalised were not true.
Earlier, there were reports about injuries to the girl's eyes and tongue. However, the post-mortem conducted by a panel of doctors showed no such thing, he said.
"The post-mortem report stated the cause of the girl's death was strangulation after rape," he said.
Bahujan Samaj Party President Mayawati condemned the incident on Twitter calling it 'extremely shameful'.
"What is the difference between the governments of the Samajwadi Party and the present BJP if such incidents keep happening?" she asked.
Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Azad also commented on the incident. "Dalit oppression is at its peak under the BJP government... If it is not the jungle raj, then what is? Our daughters are not safe, our homes are not safe, there is an atmosphere of fear everywhere. Yogi Adityanath should resign," he said.
On August 6, a 6-year-old girl in Hapur district was kidnapped and raped. The police arrested the accused on Friday. The girl remains in a hospital and has been through at least one surgery. Doctors say she is stable but not out of danger.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS)
