Four men allegedly gangraped a Class 10 student in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district, PTI reported on Friday. The girl died by suicide after the incident, according to the police. Two of the accused in the case have been arrested.
The police said that the accused – Lakhan and Vikas – tried to escape custody while being taken to a court on Saturday, reported NDTV. Lakhan was shot in the leg as the police tried to capture them.
The accused allegedly raped the girl on Thursday when she was returning from her tuition class in a village in Meerut. The accused stopped her, took her to an isolated spot and raped her, Hindustan Times reported.
The girl consumed poison after she reached home, according to the newspaper. Her family first took her to a hospital in the village and then to Meerut as her condition worsened. She died there.
Meerut Rural Superintendent of Police Keshav Kumar told PTI that the girl named the accused in her suicide note. The police have launched a search for the other two accused.
Meanwhile, the girl’s family alleged that she was poisoned by the accused, The Indian Express reported. “The police are saying there was a suicide note but the fact is she was murdered,” her uncle alleged.
The police, on the other hand, claimed that the suicide note was authentic. “We will be sending it to the forensic science laboratory for further examination,” Kumar said, according to the newspaper. “The FIR has been filed as per the allegation of the family.”
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav criticised the Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government over the incident. He suggested that the chief minister spends more time campaigning for elections than stopping crime in his state.
“The news of the kidnapping, gang rape and poisoning of a student in Uttar Pradesh’s Sardhana [Meerut] is extremely sad and can strike fear in the society,” he tweeted. “If the star pracharak [star campaigner] ji gets free time from publicity, please consider this [matter] too.”
Police shoot one of the accused as they attempt to escape
On Saturday, the police said Lakhan and Vikas escaped after the former snatched a gun from one of the police official guarding them. They were later caught.
“Today both accused were being taken to court, when they escaped by grabbing the gun of a police inspector,” Superintendent of Police (Rural) Keshav Kumar said. “A combing operation was launched... the accused opened fire on police. We returned fire and Lakhan was shot in his leg.”
The accused were pinned down near Kapsad village after the operation. Lakhan is being treated at a local hospital.
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