Atrocities against Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bharat are now beginning to look eerily similar. Two minor Hindu sisters were raped, murdered and hung by 5 Muslim youth yesterday in Nighasan area of Lakhimpur Kheri district, UP.

The sisters, aged 14 and 17, come from an SC (‘Dalit’) community and had been groomed and sexually assaulted by two of the men – Sohail and Junaid. When the sisters demanded that the accused marry them, they decided to get rid of the sisters. The bodies of the girls were found hanging from a tree in a sugarcane field located about a kilometre away from their house on Wednesday night.

Three other Muslim men – Hafizur Rehman, Karimuddin and Arif – were involved in the rape and murder and ensuing cover up to make it look like a suicide. All 5 men live in a village neighbouring Lalpur Majra Tamoli Purva village where the girls lived. A neighbor of the girls, Chottu, had introduced them to the Muslim youth but was not present at the time of the crime.

According to the Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police (SP), Sanjeev Suman, the six accused – Junaid, Sohail, Hafizur Rehman, Karimuddin, Arif and Chottu – were arrested in connection with the gruesome crime. Two of the six accused, Junaid and Sohail, the SP said, have confessed that they have strangulated the minor girls after raping them. Junaid and Sohail were ‘in a relationship’ with the girls, the police said.

“We have arrested Junaid, Sohail, Hafizur Rehman, Karimuddin, Arif and Chottu in an overnight operation. As per preliminary investigation, the two sisters left their home on Wednesday afternoon on the persuasion of Junaid and Sohail. Junaid and Sohail have confessed that they strangulated the girls after raping them”, SP Sanjeev Suman said.

“The men took advantage of the fact that they were friendly with the girls and raped them. As the girls then started saying they would have to marry them, the men got angry and strangled them with their dupattas. They later called two of their friends, who helped them hang the girls so that it looked like a suicide,” he added.

Another accused Chottu had introduced the girls to three others but was not at the scene of the crime. The three, who carried out the crime, and the two, who helped them in a coverup attempt, are from another village close to the girls. The SP said that one of the men was caught this morning in an encounter with the police, who shot him in the leg.

All six have been booked for murder and rape besides under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

“The post-mortem examination is being conducted by a panel of three doctors. It will be videographed, and some members of the victims’ family will be inside as they wanted to be sure. We will do everything that the family wants. That is important, we understand,” the SP said.

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, meanwhile, said that strict punishment will be given to the accused which will set an example for other perpetrators. “Govt will take such an action that the souls of their coming generations will also shiver. Justice will be given; proceedings via fast-track court,” Pathak said.

IANS reporting on this horrific crime is a textbook example of our English-language media’s “secularist” impulses. They have tried to project Chottu/Chhotu as the ‘main accused’ in the crime.

In one report filed at 9.52 AM today (archived here), IANS says, “The main accused, Chhotu Gautam, has confessed that he wanted to marry one of the girls but when she refused, he, and his friends, kidnapped the girls, raped and murdered them before hanging their bodies on the tree.”

In a follow-up report filed at 10.30 AM, IANS corrects the previous version, “The main accused Chotu had allegedly introduced the girls to three others but was not at the scene of crime. The three, who carried out the crime, and the two, who helped them in a coverup attempt, are from another village close to the girls, he said.” So now IANS informs that Chotu was not present at the scene of crime, but for some reason they still continue to label him the ‘main accused’. The second IANS report still does not identify Junaid and Sohail as the ones who confessed to raping and strangulating the sisters, like media outlets such as Jagran have reported quoting SP Sanjeev Suman!

This is how little Hindu lives and the truth matters to our mainstream English-language media.

Update

15 Sept, 5:30 PM: A twitter user has shared a tweet with the photos of the 6 perpetrators –