A 17-year-old girl was shot dead allegedly by a 20-year-old youth after he tried to molest her in a market in Uttar Pradesh’s.

The incident happened on Monday. The police have identified the accused as Usman Malik, who was apparently in a relationship with the girl earlier.

Police said the girl resisted Malik’s advances when she was on her way to a store and he then shot at her with a country-made weapon.

She died on the spot, police said.

Several local residents and the girl’s family members reached the spot but the accused had managed to flee by then, police said.

They staged a blockade at the market demanding the arrest of the culprit and refused to hand over the body to the police for post-mortem examination.

“We persuaded them to call off the protest. We have formed two teams to nab the culprit. We hope to arrest him soon,” said Kamlesh Bahadur, Superintendent of Police (Rural).

(The story has been published via a syndicated feed with a modified headline.)