The girl was missing after she had gone to relieve herself in the field. She was found dead in the cane field later.
Police dismissed reports that the girl had sustained grievous injuries on her tongue and eyes in the incident, and said the postmortem stated that the death was due to strangulation after rape. The incident drew strong opposition condemnation, with Congress and SP leaders attacking the Adityanath government over the law and order situation in the state.
Cong leaders write to Sonia Gandhi urging leadership change: Jha</div><p>Some 100 Congress leaders, including MPs, have written to Sonia Gandhi asking for a change in the political leadership and transparent elections in the party, suspended leader Sanjay Jha tweeted on Monday. Jha, who was suspended from the party in July this year, said that several leaders have been "distressed at the state of affairs within the party."
Police said the girl had gone to her fields on Friday afternoon. When she did not return home, her family started looking for her and found her body in a sugarcane field. Two men were arrested on Friday night.
Police have registered an FIR against Sanjay Kumar and Santosh under IPC section 302 (murder) and SC/ST Act at Isanagar police station and both the accused were detained on Saturday. Later, section 376d (gang-rape) and POCSO were added to the FIR after autopsy confirmed the sexual assault.
SHO Isanagar told TOI, "The accused Sanjay had a tiff with the girl's family over defecating in his farmland in the past. The girl was found in his cane field and family had named him in their complaint. During interrogation, Sanjay has accepted to have killed the girl along with Santosh, who is also a Dalit. The eyes of the girl were not gouged out but there were visible injuries on her eyes caused by sharp sugarcane leaves". Lashing out at the state government over the law and order situation, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav said the incident has shaken humanity.
"The rape and murder of a teenage girl in Lakhimpur Kheri in UP is an incident, which has shaken humanity. In the BJP rule, atrocities on children and women are at an all-time high," he charged in a tweet in Hindi. "Why is the BJP government shielding those who are involved in rape, kidnapping, murder and other crime," the former state chief minister asked.
Senior Congress leader Jitin Prasada on Sunday said, "The inhuman act with a girl has put humanity to shame. This is an extremely saddening incident. In this episode, the police must initiate such a strong action that it becomes a deterrent for criminals."
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
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