Two held in Unnao deaths case: Cops
The Unnao police on Friday nabbed two people, including a minor, in connection with the death of two teenage girls at a village in the district on Wednesday, a senior official said. Another victim in the case is battling for life at a hospital.
“Vinay Kumar alias Lambu of Pathakpur village and a teenager have been held in connection with the case. The matter is a fallout of one-sided love. The accused gave some pesticide with water to the three girls,” inspector general of police (Lucknow Range) Laxmi Singh said to reporters in Unnao. While Vinay is 21 years old, the minor is 15, according to the police.
Both the accused are Dalits, according to those in the know of things.
Vinay, who had befriended one of the girls earlier, carried a bottle of water laced with pesticides in order to make her fall unconscious, the IG said.
But the two other girls also drank from the bottle. Seeing them all faint, Vinay and the boy accompanying him dragged all the three to the corner of a mustard field and ran away.
The police on Friday held both of them in the case of murder registered in connection with the incident at the Asoha police station on Thursday. Apart from Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), police have slapped Section 201 against the accused for causing disappearance of evidence on a complaint of a victim’s father, police said.
Vinay’s family owns a field next to another one owned by one of the girl’s fathers. During
the Covid-19 lockdown last year, Vinay regularly visited the field and so did the girls to collect fodder. He met one of the girls frequently. But the girl rejected his overtures regularly, said the police.
“Vinay told the police he asked for her phone number and proposed to her, but she always refused. He was angry with her and sought revenge for his insult,” said Singh.
On Wednesday, he reached the fields with his friend. He offered the girls chips. The girl he had been pursuing asked for water (which happened to be laced with pesticide). He gave it to her. Soon, the two other girls also drank from the bottle, he said to the police, according to Singh.
As the girls complained of dizziness and fell unconscious, Vinay and his friend panicked. They dragged the girls to their field from his field and ran away.
Police learnt from villagers that Vinay was present in the fields at the same time as the girls. A Special Operations Group team picked him up with three others from Pathakpur village. The brothers of the girls were also detained for questioning.
Vinay broke down when his location was also traced to the field at the time of commission of the crime and a few eyewitnesses, who claimed to have seen them (Vinay and the boy) running from one field to another in a state of panic, came forward.
The father of one of the girls said the entire family was happy with the two persons having been nabbed.
“We have been telling the police right from the start our daughters were murdered. We stand vindicated. The police must ensure that the investigation carries enough evidence against them and they are hanged for their unspeakable crime,” he added.
On the other hand, the father of accused Vinay Kumar Lambu said his son had been framed in the case by the police. “My son is not like this. He cannot do what is being pinned on him. He is innocent,” he said.
“He is being made a scapegoat under pressure,” he alleged.
The father of the other accused, who is a minor, said his son was too young to commit or participate in such a crime.
“How can a young boy of his age can do something like this. This is beyond his capability, he is innocent and being set up,” he said.