A 3-year-old girl who had been reported missing since Wednesday was found dead in a field in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri on Thursday morning. She was raped and strangled, the police said today. This is the third rape-murder incident of a minor in the district in the past 20 days.
The toddler’s body was recovered from the vicinity of her village with injuries to her head, police said on Thursday. A man from her village, Lekhram has been arrested based on her father’s complaint. Her father has alleged Lekhram of abducting and killing his child due to an old enmity with his family.
Yesterday the police had called it murder. However, the autopsy report confirmed the three-year-old whose body was found in a sugarcane field was raped and sexually assaulted, the police said.
Following this, Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police (SP) Satendra Kumar Singh said a case of murder was lodged against the accused. The accused man was caught in an encounter, according to the police, which had formed four teams to look for him.
Third Rape Incident in 20 Days
Lakhimpur district has been in the throes of public scrutiny after a 17-year-old girl was found dead
outside her village. She was allegedly raped and murdered after leaving home to fill a scholarship application. Her mutilated body was found near a dry pond, 2000 meters away from her village.
Before this, a 13-year-old girl was raped and strangled to death in the same district. According to the police, the girl had gone to the fields in the afternoon and was reported missing after she did not return home. Her body was found in the sugarcane field.
The incident sparked massive outrage with the Congress and the Samajwadi opposition attacking the Yogi Adityanath government over the worsening law and order situation in the state.
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