Crimes against women cases are increasing day by day in the state of Uttar Pradesh. In the past 15 days, over 10 rapes and sexual assault cases were reported from the state alone and now another similar incident has been reported.
In a tragic incident, a three-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered in a sugarcane field in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri on Thursday morning, police said.
Having injury marks on the head, the toddler's body was recovered from the vicinity of her village in the Singahi area. She has been missing since Wednesday, police said.
In his complaint to police, the girl's father alleged that one Lekhram, a resident of their village, had abducted and killed her due to an old enmity with his family. Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police (SP) Satendra Kumar Singh said a case of murder has been lodged against the accused.
The SP added that the body has been sent for a post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause of the death.?Sexual assault was confirmed by the autopsy, said the police, as reported by NDTV.
Efforts are under way to arrest the accused.
Lakhimpur Kheri district was in the news recently when a 17-year-old girl was found dead outside her village. She was allegedly raped and murdered after she left home to fill a scholarship application.
Her mutilated body was found near a dry pond, around 200 metres away from her village falling under the Neemgaon police limits.
Prior to this incident, a 13-year-old girl was raped and strangled to death in the district.
Police said the girl had gone to her fields in the afternoon and when she did not return home, her family started looking for her. She was found dead in a sugarcane field.
Both incidents, which took place last month, drew flak from the opposition, with Congress and SP leaders attacking the Yogi Adityanath-led state government over the law and order situation.