Lakhimpur girl murdered, not raped: Fresh autopsy report

A fresh post-mortem on a 14-year-old girl, found hanging in a police station in Lakhimpur, today revealed she was murdered but ruled out rape even as the Mayawati government ordered a CB-CID probe, removed a top police officer and suspended three doctors.

"The second post-mortem conducted by a panel of doctors from Lucknow has concluded that the girl was strangulated but ruled out rape," special director general of police (SDGP) Brij Lal told reporters in Lucknow.

He said Lakhimpur SP DK Rai has been removed and Amit Chandra, a PAC Commandant in Lucknow, has been posted in his place.

"The SP has been removed as prima facie laxity in supervision of the investigation has been detected. As a senior officer, he should not have relied solely on the (first) post-mortem report," the SDGP said.

He said the three doctors, who performed the autopsy earlier -- AK Agarwal, SP Singh and AK Sharma -- have been placed under suspension.

The second post-mortem was performed by a panel of doctors from Lucknow after the body of the girl was exhumed from Nighasan town.

"The doctors have been suspended as they mentioned asphyxia as the cause of death which was entirely different from the findings of the new report," he said.

Divisional commissioner, Lucknow, Prashant Trivedi and IGP Subesh Kumar told a press conference here that the girl was strangulated and had not died due to asphyxia, caused by the hanging, as mentioned in the first report.

After the incident sparked an outrage, the state government rejected the earlier autopsy report and ordered a fresh post mortem by a panel of doctors from other districts.

Missing since Friday evening, the girl was found hanging from a tree inside the premises of Nighasan police station. The victim's mother in her complaint had alleged that her daughter was raped and murdered.

Ruling out the suicide angle, Brij Lal said, "The investigation showed while the height of the branch from which the girl's body was found hanging was four feet and eight inches, the girl was four feet and 10 inches tall. Keeping in mind these facts, suicide was not possible."

He said an FIR had been lodged against a sub-inspector and two constables for tampering evidence.

A 10-member team of the the CB-CID, which has been asked to submit its report within a week, visited the scene of the incident.

The team, led by SP Shriprakash Tripathi, examined records at the police station and recorded statements of the girl's family.

Eleven policemen posted at Nighasan police station had been suspended after the girl's body was found.

Condemning the incident as "shocking and barbaric", opposition parties said the law and order had deteriorated in the state.

Sharpening his attack on the Mayawati government, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh demanded a CBI probe into the incident, saying the CB-CID inquiry ordered by the state authorities was meant to "cover up" the issue.

"The law and order in Uttar Pradesh is getting from bad to worse and now murders are taking place even in police stations. We do not have faith in the state police and demand a CBI inquiry into the incident," he told reporters in Delhi.

Union women and child development minister Krishna Tirath said she would take up the matter with home minister P Chidambaram.

"It is a very serious matter. I will take this up with the home minister. Such incidents are occurring repeatedly in UP and the government there is insensitive. I have also written to the NCW to probe the matter and after they give a report, action will be taken accordingly," she said.

NCW chairperson Yasmeen Abrar said the commission has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and sought a report. "We will take a decision on sending a probe team to the spot after getting their response," she said.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission NHRC)_has dispatched a two-member team to investigate the matter.