Two sisters were found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri this afternoon. Both girls were minors and belonged to a Dalit family. Their mother told reporters that they were abducted by men on motorcycles. The family alleged they were raped and murdered. The bodies are being sent for postmortem and a large police force has been deployed in the area.
"The site is being inspected by senior officers of the district. On information, the Nighasan police reached the spot immediately and action is being taken to send the dead bodies for post-mortem examination as per rules. Legal action will be taken based on the investigation of the case," the local police said in a Hindi statement.
"The girls were found hanging by their own dupattas. There were no apparent injuries on body," said Laxmi Singh, Inspector General of Police, Lucknow Range. The postmortem, he said, will be conducted by a panel of experts. "We will file an FIR based on whatever the family tells us in their complaint," he added.
This is the near the area in UP where farmers were run over by an SUV allegedly driven by Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, in October last year during a protest against the Centre's farm laws.
Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party has criticised the Uttar Pradesh government and attacked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over women's safety in the state.
"In Yogi government, goons are harassing mothers and sisters every day, very shameful. The government should get the matter investigated, the culprits should get the harshest punishment," the Samajwadi Party tweeted.
Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted images of a protest and alleged that the girls were abducted and then murdered. The gorls' father, he wrote in the post, has alleged that the postmortem was done without consent and in violation of procedure.
"After the abduction and murder of two Dalit sisters in the Nighasan police station area, their father's serious allegation against the police that their post-mortem was done without Panchnama and consent. After farmers in Lakhimpur, the killing of Dalits is now a heinous repetition of the 'Hathras ki Beti' massacre," his tweet read.
A 19-year-old Dalit woman was raped allegedly by four upper-caste men in Hathras on September 14 last year. She died on September 29 at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital.
Congress's Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also attacked the state's BJP government.
"The incident of murder of two sisters in Lakhimpur (UP) is heart-wrenching. The relatives say that those girls were abducted in broad daylight. Giving false advertisements in newspapers and TV every day does not improve law and order. After all, why are heinous crimes against women increasing in UP?" read a rough translation of her Hindi tweet.
The incident also brought back stark reminders of the death of two cousins in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun, whose bodies were found hanging from a tree in 2014. Based on their autopsy, the police said they were raped and hanged alive.
The deaths had sparked global outrage, re-igniting a debate in India on the safety of its women.
