Four of SC family axed to death in Uttar Pradesh; teen allegedly gang-raped before being murdered

In a shocking incident, four members of a Scheduled Caste (SC) family were axed to death over an alleged land dispute in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj district.

A 17-year-old girl, among those murdered, was allegedly gang-raped before being being killed.

Two police personnel, including the inspector of the concerned police station, were suspended on charges of laxity.

Police sources said that those killed included a 50-year-old man, his wife, his son and daughter. Their bodies were found in their house at Phaphamau area in the district on Thursday. ''It appears from their injuries that they may have been killed a day or two ago," a senior police official in Prayagraj said.

One of the relatives of the deceased family members said that there was a land dispute between the latter and a family of upper caste, also from the same village and that a complaint had been lodged with the police a few months ago but the police did not act on it.

An irate mob blocked traffic on the highway demanding the arrest of the accused and compensation, police sources said, adding that the blockade was lifted later after assurance by the officials and the bodies were cremated.

The Opposition parties slammed the BJP government in the state for failing to ensure safety of the members of the SC community. ''This government has failed to protect the SC and other backward communities,'' UP Congress president Ajai Kumar Lallu.

Congress general secretary and UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will likely meet the relatives of the slain family members, Congress sources told DH on Friday.

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