UP shamed again: Seven-year-old killed after rape

Barely had the dust settled on the brutal killing of a toddler in Aligarh and a ten-year-old girl in Hamirpur, a seven-year-old girl was allegedly hacked to death after rape in Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's home district of Gorakhpur.

The body of the girl was recovered from near a 'mutt' at Belma village in the neighbouring Sant Kabir Nagar district late on Friday night.

The alleged culprit, who was the resident of the same village from where the victim hailed, was arrested, police said on Saturday.

Police sources said that the victim was seen going with the culprit on his motorbike on Friday evening. She went missing since then, sources said.

The cops, who reached the spot upon being informed, managed to nab the culprit, who, on sustained questioning, admitted to sexually assaulting the little girl and later killing here.

''Since the victim recognised the offender, he chose to kill her,'' said a senior police official in Gorakhpur.

There has been a spate in the incidents of rape of minors in the state in the past few days triggering a widespread backlash from the rights activists and also the opposition parties.

Barely a few days back a ten-year-old girl, who hailed from scheduled caste (SC) community, was allegedly raped and then killed in Hamirpur district.

The incident comes close on the heels of the brutal murder of a three-year-old girl after her father failed to repay ten thousand rupees he had taken a loan from a youth. The youth allegedly brutally murdered the toddler after the father expressed his inability to repay the debt.

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav said that the law and order had collapsed in the state. ''Jungle raj prevails in the state,'' he told reporters here.