17-year-old girl gang-raped, body burnt with acid in Uttar Pradesh

In a gruesome incident, a 17-year-old girl was first gang-raped, and then her body was burnt with acid and dumped in a river. The incident took place in Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi district, about 250 kilometres from Lucknow.

The body was recovered from Varuna river near Tulsi Chak village on Wednesday, according to the police sources. Eyewitnesses said that her face and some other parts the body were burnt with acid apparently to hide the victim's identity.

District police chief Ram Badan Singh earlier said that the minor appeared to have been 'murdered', but later made a U-turn and claimed that she had died from drowning.

However, he has also said that a panel of five doctors had been formed to conduct the postmortem examination to ascertain the cause of death and confirm if she was raped.

The girl's parents said that she had taken the cattle for grazing in the fields on Monday, but never returned home. ''We had lodged a complaint with the police but the latter did not make any effort to trace her,'' the distraught father said.

An irate mob blocked the road in protest and demanded adequate compensation to the family.

Uttar Pradesh has been a sudden spurt in the rape cases in the past few days.

A minor 'Dalit' girl was allegedly gang-raped before being burnt with cigarette butts in Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's home district Gorakhpur a few days back.

In another incident, a minor was allegedly gang-raped by three youths in UP's Sitapur district, about 90 kilometres from here.

The opposition leaders have accused the UP government of failing to ensure the safety of the women in the state.