Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested one Mohd Dilshad in connection with the brutal rape and murder of an 18-year-old Dalit girl in Lakhimpur Kheri, a day after the mutilated body of the girl was found dumped near a dried-up pond around 200 metres from her village. Lakhimpur Kheri SSP Satendar Kumar said the post-mortem report had confirmed rape. The accused has reportedly confessed to the crime.
“Apart from the statement of the accused, the conclusion is also based on scientific evidence such as fingerprints, bloodstained clothes and CCTV footage that has confirmed the crime. A knife has also been recovered based on the information given by him,” said the SSP.
According to ABP News journalist, the accused Mohd Dilshad, who worked at a tailor shop where the girl used to get her clothes stitched, first befriended the 18-year-old Dalit girl. After he learnt that the girl’s family is planning her wedding, Dilshad forced the girl to change her religion and marry him instead. When the girl refused, Dilshad stalked her, brutally raped and murdered her with a sharp weapon, then dumped her mutilated body and fled.
लखीमपुर: लव जेहाद में नाकाम मोहम्मद दिलशाद ने दलित लड़की की बलात्कार के बाद बेरहमी से हत्या कर दी, दिलशाद ने लड़की को प्रेम जाल में फँसाया, इस बीच लड़की की शादी कहीं और तय हो गई, दिलशाद ने धर्म बदल कर निकाह का दवाब बनाया लेकिन लड़की ने इंकार कर दिया, धोखे से बुलाया और हत्या कर दी pic.twitter.com/wuWWIoz0rA
— Vikas Bhadauria (ABP News) (@vikasbha) August 26, 2020
Lakhimpur Kheri rape and murder a case of ‘Love Jihad’
Responding to senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who took to Twitter to castigate Uttar Pradesh government for the incident, Shalabh Mani Tripathi, the media advisor to the CM of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath, shared the Lakhimpur Kheri Police press note which confirmed what exactly transpired. Calling it a case of ‘Love Jihad’, Tripathi questioned the Congress leader that now when she knows that it was an incident of ‘Love Jihad’, would she dare to speak a word this phenomenon that is dismissed by her party.
It is notable here that recently, Priyanka Gandhi had tweeted about the girl’s body being found in Lakhimpur Kheri and had raised questions about the law and order situation in the state.
अब एक दलित बेटी हुई लव जेहाद का शिकार,दर्ज़ी दिल़शाद ने कपड़ा सिलाने के बहाने दोस्ती की और जुट गया लव ज़ेहाद में,लड़की निकाह को तैयार ना हुई तो दरिंदे ने बेरहमी से रेप,हत्या कर डाली,@priyankagandhi जी इस खुलासे के बाद एक शब्द लव जेहाद पर भी बोल दें,अगर वोट बैंक का डर ना हो तो। pic.twitter.com/FbNToUKC7l
— Shalabh Mani Tripathi (@shalabhmani) August 26, 2020
Meanwhile, in the press release, the Lakhimpur Kheri police confirmed that the victim’s call record revealed that she and accused Dilshad were in regular touch with each other for the past few months. In fact, the day before the murder, the two had spoken to each other 13 times over calls.
According to relatives of the Dalit girl, she left home on Monday to visit a neighbouring town to fill up a scholarship form. However, when she did not return the family informed the police. “I really don’t know what to say or whom to suspect. She left around 8.30 AM on Monday. We do not suspect anyone,” her uncle told the media.
Police claimed that Dilshad admitted that during a heated argument, he had attacked the girl, raped her, then slit her throat and dumped the body near a pond.
