Four convicted for Dalit sisters’ gang rape and murder in UP's Lakhimpur
The quantum of punishment will be announced on August 14. The trial for the sixth accused, who is a minor, is being held separately.
A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) court on Friday convicted four out of the six accused in connection with the rape and murder of two Dalit sisters in 2022 in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh.
Separate verdicts will be announced for the other two juvenile accused, a public prosecutor said.
On September 14, 2022, the bodies of the two sisters – aged 17 and 15 – were found hanging from a tree in their village in the district. Their family members had alleged that the two were abducted from outside their house three hours before their bodies were recovered. Police had said the accused raped and strangled the minors before hanging their bodies from a tree to make it appear like a case of death by suicide.
An FIR was registered under the Indian Penal Code and Pocso Act in the case on the same day and six people were arrested on September 15.
Special public prosecutor (Pocso cases) Brijesh Pandey said that the court has fixed August 14 as the date for the pronouncement of quantum of punishment for the four convicts.
”The court convicted Mohd Junaid (19) and Sunil Kumar (22) under IPC sections 363 (kidnapping of minors), 376-D (gangrape of woman under 16 years of age), 302 (murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 452 (house-trespass alter preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint ), 201 (causing disappearance of evidences related to crime)and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention). They were also held guilty under section 5G/6 of the Pocso Act (penetrative gangrape with a child and aggravated penetrative sexual assault),” Pandey said.
“The other two accused – Karimuddin (21) and Mohd Arif (24) under IPC section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence related to the crime). All four were held guilty by additional district judge, special Pocso court, Rahul Singh,” he said, adding, “The judgment on the role of one minor accused – above 16 years of age – will be pronounced later by the court. The trial of this minor accused was also conducted in the Pocso court.”
The trial of the sixth accused – who is below 16 years of age – is being held separately before the Juvenile Justice Board, he added.
