New Delhi, April 3: The police in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday said
it has shot one of four accused of the gang rape of a class 10 Student in
Meerut as he and his accomplice tried to escape custody while being taken to
court
Police said they have arrested two accused - Lakhan and Vikas
today and were being taken to court when they snatched a pistol from one of the
policemen guarding them and tried to escape.
In the encounter that was carried out by a team of police
officials from Meerut and Sardhana- the two accused were caught near Kapsad
village and one of them Lakhan was shot in his leg when he opened fire at
police team, the police said.
"Today both accused were being taken to court, when they
escaped by grabbing the gun of a Police Inspector. A combing operation was
launched... the accused opened fire on police. We returned fire and Lakhan was
shot in his leg," Keshav Kumar, the Superintendent of Police (Rural),
said.
Both accused have been re-captured, and Lakhan is being treated
at a local hospital.
The young girl was allegedly gang raped by four men on Thursday;
her relatives also alleged she was forced to consume a poisonous substance that
led to her death. Her family lodged a first information report with the police
after she left home at around 3.30 pm and returned by 5.15 pm, and told her
parents about the rape and assault. The girl was rushed to a hospital but died
during treatment.
Meerut Police have leveled rape and other applicable charges,
but have also confirmed the recovery of a suicide note from the girl's home.
All possible angles are being probed.
"As soon as we received a complaint, we registered a case
and went to the scene. We found a suicide note at the home of the girl, which
names a man called Lakhan and others. Two accused have been arrested. The main
accused - Lakhan - used to go attend a tuition class with the girl," local
police said.
The young girl's death has also triggered a political row in a
state and the government headed by the chief minister Yogi Adityanath was
heavily criticised for increased incidents of rapes and other atrocities
against women and girls
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took a dig at Chief
Minister and suggested that he spend more time preventing crimes in his state
than campaigning for the BJP in other states
"News of the kidnapping, gangrape and poisoning of a student in Uttar Pradesh's Sardhana (Meerut) is extremely sad... If star pracharakji (star campaigner) gets some free time... please consider this too. A lot of women have been tortured...," Yadav tweeted.