Rahul Gandhi visits Lakhimpur rape victim’s home

LUCKNOW: Taking the Uttar Pradesh administration and police by surprise, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday met family members of the 14-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped and murdered inside a police station in Nighasan in Lakhimpur district.

He met the girl’s family for 20 minutes and asked about the progress of the investigation into the rape and murder case. Later talking to newspersons, he said there is little hope for the girl’s family to receive justice and he supported their demand for a CBI probe into the incident. “We support the family's demand for a CBI probe into the incident," he said. The girl was strangulated to death after being allegedly gang-raped by cops posted at Nighasan police station on June 10.

In a cover-up exercise, the police initially tried to pass it off as a suicide case but following a public outcry, a second autopsy was conducted after exhuming her body. The second autopsy confirmed her murder and 11 cops were suspended.

On Monday, Gandhi had also visited the family of a girl, who was blinded in one eye after a failed rape attempt in Kannauj on June 19.