Unnao victims buried, two arrested for poisoning them

Police on Friday arrested a 21-year-old man and his teenage associate for allegedly poisoning three Dalit girls and killing two of them in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao, claiming that the duo tried to extract revenge from one of the girls after she rebuffed the man’s advances.

The development came on a day the families laid to rest the two minor victims, aged 13 and 15, after resisting two attempts by the administration to bury the girls — a stand-off that brought back memories of the Hathras gang rape case last October where police and local administration forcibly cremated a Dalit victim.

The three Dalit girls were found unconscious in a field near their home on Wednesday. Two of them died soon after, and the third, 16, is in a critical condition in a Kanpur hospital.

Inspector general of police

Laxmi Singh said Vinay Kumar, a resident of a village neighbouring that of the victims’, and a 15-year-old boy were arrested on charges of murder and concealing evidence. They belong to the same caste as the victims, said local officials. “Vinay told the police he asked for her phone number, proposed to her but she always refused. He was angry with her and sought revenge for his insult…the accused gave some pesticide with water to the three girls,” said Singh.