The incident took place in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh. (Representational image)
A 13-year-old girl was allegedly raped by four men and strangled to death in the presence of and collusion with her elder sister in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh, police said on Wednesday.
The police have arrested seven people -- the four who allegedly raped the girl in a sugarcane field, her elder sister and two other men who stood guard during the crime -- Superintendent of Police of Lakhimpur Kheri district Sanjiv Suman told reporters.
The accused are aged between 18 and 19 years.
According to the police, the sisters had frequent quarrels after the younger one recently came to know about the elder one's illicit relations with the four men and objected to it.
On Tuesday, the elder sister, on the pretext of attending to nature's call, took the younger one with her to a nearby sugarcane field, where the four men -- identified as Ranjit Chauhan, Amar Singh, Ankit and Sandip Chauhan -- allegedly raped her.
Then, the minor girl was strangled to death with her scarf.
The elder sister was present there while two other men -- Deepu Chauhan and Arjun -- stood guard, the police officer said.
Her body was spotted by some villagers later that day, the police said.
According to the SP, the accused confessed to their involvement in the crime and narrated the chain of events during interrogation.