Uttar Pradesh gangrape: 5 main accused arrested; Rahul Gandhi meets family of victims

Badaun: Congress vice president met bereaved family members of the two Dalit girls who were brutually gangraped and murdered in a village in Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited the village of the two dalit sisters, on Friday, who were gangraped and murdered, and met their family members as they pressed for a CBI probe and refused to take any compensation, demanding justice for their girls.

Gandhi was accompanied by AICC general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Madhusudan Mistry, state PCC chief Nirmal Khatri and chairman of AICC Scheduled Castes department K Raju.

The Congress Vice President met the family at their home and also visited the site, where the bodies of the two girls were found hanging. He assured the family of all possible help, Congress leaders said.

The family members told Rahul that they don't have faith in the state police and want a CBI probe, they said. The two victims, who were cousins and aged 14 and 15, went missing from their house on the night of May 27 and their bodies were found hanging from a mango tree in the village in Ushait area the next morning.

This is the first visit of the Congress Vice President outside his Parliamentary constituency Amethi in Uttar Pradesh after the party's debacle in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

Pressing for a CBI probe into the incident, the family of the victims today said it was more gruesome than the December 16 gangrape case and demanded that the culprits be hanged publicly.

"We want justice and not compensation. The manner in which the entire world saw our innocent girls hanging, we want that in the same manner it should watch the culprits being hanged. They should be hanged publicly," said the father of one of the girls.

The incident had triggered protests in the area with villagers alleging police apathy, following which an FIR was registered against seven persons.

The incident also led to a nation wide furore. Home Minister Rajnath Singh was on Friday, briefed by officials on the incident.

All the five main accused, including two policemen, have been arrested, police said on Saturday. Badaun is 300 km from Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow.

Meanwhile, all the five main accused, including two policemen, have been arrested in connection with the gangrape and murder of two Dalit sisters here, police have confirmed.

Constable Chhatrapal Yadav was arrested late last night and Urvesh Yadav was detained in the wee hours today, Superintendent of Police A K Saxena told PTI. All the five accused named in the FIR, including constables Sarvesh Yadav, Chhatrapal and three brothers Pappu Yadav, Awadhesh Yadav and Urvesh Yadav have been arrested.

The FIR was registered against seven persons including two unnamed men after outrage over the incident.

Taking note of the incident, Katra Sadatganj police outpost in-charge Ram Vilas Yadav was been suspended and two constables -- Sarvesh and Chhatrapal -- were terminated from services yesterday, Saxena said.

While the two constables have been booked under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC, the three brothers have been booked under Section 302 (murder) and 376 (rape).

The two girls, who were cousins and aged 14 and 15, went missing from their house on the night of May 27 and their bodies were found hanging from a mango tree in the village in Ushait area on May 28.

The post-mortem report of the two girls confirmed that they were raped before murder. A lot of hue and cry has been created by the opposition, with BSP supremo demanding a CBI probe into the matter.

The family of the two victims had also demanded a CBI probe, saying they had no faith in local police which was "hand in gloves" with the accused.

The father of one of the girls had yesterday called for transferring the case to the agency alleging that the role of police was "suspicious". "The role of police in the entire incident is suspicious.

Had the cops acted timely and did not showed laxity, lives of the girls would have been saved. They were hand in gloves with the accused," father of one of the victim had told PTI here.

The Uttar Pradesh government has also sanctioned financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the family members of the victims while directing officials to provide security to them.

Watch: Water cannons, tear gas shells on students protesting December 16 gangrape of a student in New Delhi