By India Tomorrow News,
New Delhi, 30 May 2014: In a horrifying case of human brutality that has once again shaken the nation, two Dalit cousins aged 14 and 15, were brutally gang-raped, murdered and later found hanging from a mango tree in Katra Shadat Ganj village in the Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh state.
The two girls went missing from their house on 27 May till they were later found dead and hanging from a mango tree in the Ushait area the next morning. Post-mortem reports have confirmed that both girls were gang-raped before being strangulated to death.
The incident sparked outrage and protests in the village. People alleged that the police had not done enough and were complicit in the crime. The victim’s family said that the girls “could have been saved if the police had acted in time.”
Out of the seven accused, two are police constables.
Three of the accused have been arrested so far which includes police constable Sarvesh Yadav and brothers Pappu and Awadhesh Yadav. The four other accused namely, police constable Chattrapav Yadav, Urvesh Yadav (brother of Pappu and Awadhesh Yadav) and two other unknown assailants are still at large.
Superintendent of Police Atul Kumar Saxena said that the services of both the constables, Sarvesh and Chattrapav, have been terminated and cases against them under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) have been registered. The three brothers Pappu, Awadhesh and Urvesh and two other assailants have been booked under Section 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) of the IPC.
Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav is in hot water due to his callous comment on the incident as he termed it merely as “unfortunate.”
Badaun is one of the five seats from which the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) has won in the Lok Sabha election, down from 22 in the previous election. Dharmendra Yadav, the Lok Sabha member from Badaun is the cousin of Akhilesh Yadav.
