LAKHIMPUR KHERI: The two sisters, who were killed after being raped in  Lakhimpur Kheri were strangled to death by the accused, as they persisted that since they had been violated, the men marry them, police said on Thursday.

"The males raped the girls by taking advantage of the fact that they were friendly with them. The men became enraged and strangled the girls with their dupattas as they continued to insist that they would have to marry them. They thereafter summoned two of their pals, who assisted them in hanging the ladies to make it appear as though they had committed suicide "Sanjeev Suman, Superintendent of Police (SP), said.

The primary suspect, Chotu, allegedly introduced the girls to three other people but was absent from the crime scene. The two people who assisted them in a cover-up attempt and the three perpetrators of the crime,  are from a nearby village to the girls, he said.

One of the males was apprehended this morning during a confrontation with the police,  who shot him in the leg. Police reported that he had been recognised on Wednesday, the superintendent of police said.

In addition to being charged under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, all six have been booked for murder and rape. The girls "were not forcibly abducted," said the SP.

He claimed that a team of three doctors is doing the post-mortem investigation. "Some family members of the victims will be inside because they wanted to be sure, and it will be videotaped. Everything that the family requests will be fulfilled. That is significant, we realise," he added.

Chotu, Junaid, Sohail, Arif, Hafiz, and Karimuddin have been named as the defendants. They are all being questioned.
Police said, the bodies of the two Dalit sisters, who were minors and between 14 and 17 years old, were found allegedly hanging from a tree outside a village in the Nighasan area of Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district.

The girls' mother said that her daughters were taken at around 3 p.m. on Wednesday by three bike-riding guys and afterwards discovered hanging from a tree in a cane field.

The girls' family alleged that they were raped and killed.

Crime UP : Minor among 2 arrested for murder of 16-yr-old boy

Delhi's Jahangirpuri becomes hub of Bangladeshi thieves, 4 arrested

Another case of Muslims harassing Hindus to drive them away from village