UP's Lakhimpur Kheri gang-rape case: Congress demands strict action against culprits

Reacting to the gang-rape of a 13-year-old girl in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh, Ajay Kumar Lallu, president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) said that strict action must be taken against the culprits and demanded a thorough probe.

"The heights of brutality have been crossed. This incident has brought shame upon the state. For some time, several incidents of crime against women have come forward, be it the Hapur rape case where a 6-year-old was raped and murdered, or other incidents of acid attack and eve-teasing. The state has been traumatised," he said while speaking to .

Terming the incident as tragic, Ajay Kumar Lallu also questioned Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, "Why are our daughters not safe here? The Chief Minister will have to respond."

Launching a scathing attack on the Yogi Government in view of increasing incidents of violence against women, he further said that the party will pick the issue of women's safety in the UP state assembly.

Earlier, the police stated that the National Security Act (NSA) will be invoked against two men accused of the gangrape of the 13-year-old girl.

The girl was allegedly raped and murdered in Isanagar in Lakhimpur Kheri on Friday. Later, the police recovered her body from a sugarcane field in Isanagar.

Satyendra Kumar, Superintendent of Police (SP), Lakhimpur Kheri said two men have been booked under offences of murder and gangrape, adding that action will also be taken against them under the NSA.

( With inputs from ANI )