A 16-year-old Dalit girl was gang raped and then set on fire by two persons in the Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh.
The incident happened on September 7 when the victim was alone in her house in Madhotanda village. The two men -19-year-old Rajveer and 25-year-old Tarachand alias Tarun Kumar – entered her house and forced themselves upon her.
Thereafter, they proceeded to murder her by setting her ablaze after which they absconded from the scene of the crime.
The victim, who was by then lying unconscious, was found by her father who quickly took her to the Pilibhit district hospital. She was then shifted to the King George Medical University Hospital in Lucknow where she underwent treatment for 80% burn injuries for 12 days before breathing her last.
In a statement, the Superintendent of Police said the two accused have been arrested and booked under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
“When the incident first took place on September 7, no one from the victim’s family registered a police complaint. However, on September 10 a complaint was registered and Rajveer and Tarachand were arrested. Strict action will be taken against the two,” the senior police officer said.
This is the second incident in a week where Dalit minor girls have been brutally raped and murdered. Four days ago, two Dalit sisters were found hanging from a tree in a sugarcane field located about a kilo meter away from their house in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Six persons have been arrested so far. According to the police, the sisters were in love with the accused and wanted to marry. However, the men took advantage of this, raped and eventually murdered them.
