In the Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh, a 17-year-old girl committed suicide by hanging herself on Friday (3rd November) after a youth named Mohammad Zohid Akhtar and his accomplices made the girl’s obscene videos viral on social media. A case has been registered in the matter and the accused Zohid has been arrested.
The matter pertains to the Sampoorna Nagar police station precinct wherein accused Zohid Akhtar allegedly lured the minor Hindu girl into a relationship and recorded her private videos and pictures. Zohid Akhtar used these obscene videos to threaten and blackmail the victim to convert to Islam and perform Nikah with him.
UP: 17-year-old girl hanged herself on November 2 in Lakhimpur Kheri.
— Megh Updates 🚨™ (@MeghUpdates) November 4, 2023
Zohid Akhtar is accused of having forceful physical relations and making the video viral.
Family refused to perform last rites for 3 days. Accused arrested after uproarpic.twitter.com/MlhniuxDjq
However, when the victim refused to comply with accused Zohid Akhtar’s demands he circulated the victim’s private videos on social media platforms including Instagram. The victim’s family has alleged that the accused and his friends used to harass the 17-year-old girl. Fed up with the perpetual harassment, the victim ended her life by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her residence in Sampoorna Nagar when she was alone at home on November 2. When the victim’s family returned they saw the victim’s body hanging from the fan.
थाना संपूर्णानगर क्षेत्रांतर्गत एक बालिका द्वारा आत्महत्या करने की घटना के संबंध में अपर पुलिस अधीक्षक खीरी की बाइट pic.twitter.com/lq8frY66qi
— KHERI POLICE (@kheripolice) November 3, 2023
Reportedly, before the victim committed suicide, her family had reached the accused Mohammad Zohid Akhtar’s house and confronted him about the matter. However, Zohid’s family members Shoaib Akhtar, Shoid, Jahid Noor and others assaulted them. The accused person’s family also gave death threats to the victim’s family.
The victim’s body was sent for postmortem and then handed over to the family. The victim’s family members, however, blocked the road in Sampoorna Nagar by keeping the dead body of the victim there and staged a protest seeking justice for the deceased minor victim refusing to conduct her last rites. The victim’s family was joined by a large crowd of locals and activists from Hindu organisations like Bajrang Dal. The family of the victim demanded that the perpetrators be hanged and their houses be bulldozed.
The situation was taking a serious turn as the protesting crowd was infuriated, however, after getting assurance from district magistrate Mahendra Bahadur Singh and Kheri SSP Ganesh Prasad Saha that the accused would be arrested and a fair investigation would be conducted the situation came under control. Subsequently, the victim’s family agreed to perform her last rites.
Meanwhile, Kheri SSP Ganesh Prasad Saha informed that the accused and the deceased victim were neighbours. Reportedly, the main accused Zohid Akhtar has been arrested while the role of three others is under investigation. “We will file a chargesheet against the main accused. The police will ensure that the case is heard in fast-track court. Scientific and circumstantial evidence are being collected,” SSP Saha said adding that the circle officer will oversee the investigation.
The police filed a case against Zohid and his family under IPC sections 323, 306, 376 and 506, in addition to the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, and Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has also taken cognisance of the matter. Taking to X on Saturday, NCPCR chairman Priyank Kanoongo informed that a team of NCPCR will reach Lakhimpur Kheri and investigate the case.
उत्तरप्रदेश के लखीमपुर खीरी में अपराधियों द्वारा एक नाबालिग बच्ची से निकाह के लिए उस पर धर्मांतरण का दबाव बनाने व शारीरिक शोषण के लिए ब्लैकमेल किए जाने पर बच्ची द्वारा आत्महत्या किए जाने की घटना का संज्ञान लिया जा रहा है,@NCPCR_ एक टीम लखीमपुर खीरी पहुँच कर मामले की जाँच करेगी…
— प्रियंक कानूनगो Priyank Kanoongo (@KanoongoPriyank) November 4, 2023
“In Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, cognizance is being taken of the incident of suicide of a minor girl after the criminals put pressure on her to convert for marriage and blackmailed her for physical exploitation, @NCPCR_ A team in Lakhimpur Kheri Will reach and investigate the matter and no culprit will be allowed to escape,” the NCPCR chairman posted.
