Lakhimpur Kheri rape case stirs political storm

The alleged murder and rape of two sisters in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Keri stirred a political storm in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled state. The opposition attacked the Yogi Adityanath government, comparing the incident with the Hathras case.

Amid a protest in the victim’s village, the police have claimed that all the six accused have been arrested. According to the autopsy, the victims were raped and strangled.

The aggrieved opposition also questioned the role of the police and said there was a contradiction between the complaint made by the victim’s mother and the statement given by the police. Moreover, the government also says the rape and murder of two minor girls is a tragic incident.

On Wednesday, two Dalit sisters, 17 and 15, were raped and murdered in Lakhimpur Kheri. The bodies of the victims were found hanging on a tree in a sugarcane field. The horrific incident led to a protest in a village, and the opposition started attacking the government over the issue of poor law and order and women’s security.

Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party (SP) president, says that the victim’s father’s allegation against the police is serious and that the cop carried out the postmortem without “Panchnama” and family consent. The former chief minister further added that, after the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur, the murder of Dalits is a repetition of the Hathras case.

The SP leader of Lakhimpur, Kranti Singh, blamed the local administration for showing laxity in registering the complaints. Singh pointed out that the bodies of two girls were recovered in the evening. Even though the police had registered an FIR late at 1:19 a.m., following local mounting pressure on them through protests. “Even by using bulldozers, Yogi has failed to ensure women’s security,” Singh said.

The Aadhikar Sena, a newly floated political party by a former Indian Police Service officer (IPS), Amitabh Thakur, also raised questions about the police’s theory. Thakur said, “The complaint of the victim’s mother and the police claim is contradictory.” The former IPS went on to say, “The deceased mother complained that her daughters were abducted while police asserted that the victims went with the accused willingly.” He demanded a central bureau investigation (CBI) probe to ascertain the truth.

Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress general secretary, also targeted the Yogi-led BJP government of UP over the pathetic law and order in the state. She questioned, “Why are the obnoxious crimes against women escalating in UP?” When will the government come out of slumber?

As the incident attracts national attention, Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader, says the abduction and rape of a Dalit sister was a disturbing incident. Gandhi posted on social media that “women’s safety cannot be expected from those facilitating the release of rapists and welcoming them.

The Congress leader was referring to the release of 11 men convicted of rape and murder in the Bilkis Bano case under the BJP-led Gujarat government’s remission policy.

Moreover, the party also announced it would carry out a candle march on Thursday evening in solidarity with the victims. Announcing the solidarity march, the party leader, Anshu Awasthi, says, ” The BJP and political ideologue Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s hatred against the Dalit community made their lives difficult in the state.” The Communist student union, the Student Federation of India (SFI), also announced a protest at Baba Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) also hit out at the state government. The party supremo, Mayawati, says that “the incident exposed the law and order situation in the state and the false claims made by the ruling dispensation on women’s security.” Mayawati added, “The government is busy hiding the truth about obnoxious crimes, including Hathras, and criminals are fearless.”

Brajesh Pathak, the Deputy Chief Minister, also termed the incident tragic. According to Dy. CM Pathak, the case will be heard in a fast-track court. He also said, “The government will take such strict action against the accused that the souls of their coming generations will also shiver.”

However, the state police have claimed that all six accused have been arrested within 24 hours of the incident. The Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) said that sections on murder and rape have been imposed on the accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO).ADG (L&O) Kumar also said that after the postmortem the bodies of victims have been handed over to their families for last rites.

The police said that the sisters went willingly with the accused. However, the mother of the victims alleged in the complaint that her daughters were abducted. Those apprehended have been identified as Chotu, Junaid, Sohail, Hafizul, Karimuddin, and Arif, said Lakhimpur Superintendent of Police (SP), Sanjeev Suman.

According to Suman, Junaid was nabbed after a gunfight in which he was shot in the leg. The SP denied that the police had sent bodies for a postmortem with the family’s consent. He told the media that the postmortem of the two minor girls confirmed that they were raped and murdered.

The UP police have filed an FIR under Sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 452 (house trespass after preparation for assault) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as under POCSO’s sections 3 and 4.

– INDIA NEWS STREAM