Uttar Pradesh: 2 Men Get Life Sentence For Gang Rape And Murder Of Dalit Sisters In Lakhimpur Kheri

Two others were sentenced to six years in jail in the case by the court. The four men were convicted on Friday. 

The bodies of two Dalit sisters were found hanging from a tree in a village in the Nighasan police station limits in Lakhimpur Khiri. A case under the sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered and six men were initially arrested. 

The two men sentenced to life imprisonment are identified as Sunil and Zunaid, who have also been slapped a fine of Rs 46,000 each, said Special Public Prosecutor (SPP), POCSO cases, Brijesh Pandey, as per PTI. The agency were further said that the the POCSO court had on Friday held Zunaid and Sunil guilty under IPC sections 363 (kidnapping), 376D-A (gangrape of a woman under 16 years of age), 302 (murder), and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) among others and relevant sections of the POCSO Act.

The other two sentenced to six-year imprisonment have been identified as Karimuddin and Arif, reported PTI, adding that the court imposed a fine of Rs. 5,000 each on them. They were held guilty under section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of IPC.

Following the recovery of the bodies of the two girls, an FIR for murder and rape was registered under the sections of the IPC and POCSO along with the SC/ST Act. A special investigation team (SIT) was formed to investigate the case. Of the six held in the case, two were found to be minors.

The SIT arrested six accused in connection with the crime. Two of the accused were found to be minors. The SIT completed its investigation and filed a charge sheet in the special POCSO court on September 28, 2022, reported PTI.

SPP Pandey sais that the trial of one minor accused is pending in the POCSO court as he was aged between 16-18 at the time of the incident, as per PTI. The other accused is being tried by a juvenile justice board.