Two minor Dalit sisters found dead in U.P.’s Lakhimpur Kheri

The family of the deceased said that three youth from a nearby village had abducted the girls.

Two minor Dalit sisters, aged 15 and 17, were found hanging from a tree at a village under the Nighasan police station limits in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday.

The family of the deceased said that three youth from a nearby village had abducted the girls. They staged a demonstration at the Nighasan crossing, a few kilometres from the village. The police recovered the bodies and sent them for a post-mortem examination.

Due to the sensitivity of the case, Inspector-General of Police, Lucknow range, Laxmi Singh, and Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Suman reached the spot with a large contingent of personnel, and assured the villagers that the police would arrest the accused at the earliest. They requested the villagers to call off the demonstration and cooperate with the district administration.

Targeting the State government over the incident, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Twitter, “The murder of two sisters in Lakhimpur Kheri is shocking. The family members of the victims are saying that the deceased were kidnapped in broad daylight. Only by giving advertisement in newspapers and TV, the law and order will not improve. Why crime against women is increasing in U.P.?”

The Samajwadi Party demanded stringent punishment for the culprits.