Hardoi: Missing minor Dalit girl found raped, murdered; two detained

“The girl had stepped out of her home at around 5.30 pm yesterday (Monday). However, she did not return. Her family members then started searching for her. They, however, did not inform the local police. Today, we were informed at around 7 am that the body of a young girl had been found lying in a sugarcane field in the village,” said Superintendent of Police (SP), Hardoi, Vipin Kumar Mishra.

A police team rushed to the village and found the half-naked body with injury marks and blood on private parts. Station Officer (SO) of Pihani police station Shyam Babu Shukla said that injuries and blood-stained clothes confirmed that the girl had been sexually assaulted before she was killed.
“The cause of the death, however, could not be ascertained. We are waiting for the postmortem report,” added Shukla.

A First Information Report (FIR) was lodged against unknown persons under IPC sections for murder, gangrape and causing disappearance of evidence of offence, as well as under section 5/6 of Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.  The gangrape charge was included based on the allegation of the victim’s father, who suspects involvement of two men in the crime, the SO said.