Man kills minor girl, assaults her cousin after failed rape bid in UP's Shahjahanpur

LUCKNOW: Police arrested a 35-year-old man two days after he allegedly killed a four-year-old girl and left her seven-year-old cousin unconscious in a field after a failed attempt to rape the girls in UP's Shahjahanpur district on Monday afternoon.

As per the Shajahanpur police sources, a person named Anil aka Chameli Kanjad was arrested in connection with the attack on two minors. The police claimed that the accused had admitted that he lured the girls to the fields with a packet of biscuits and tried to rape them. He attacked the girls with an iron rod when they began to cry.

The body of one of the girls was found in the field on Monday and her seven-year-old cousin, who sustained several injuries, was found 100 metres away. Her condition is stated to be critical. 

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An FIR under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) has been registered. However, following the arrest, Sections 376 (rape) of the IPC and Sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act have been added to the original FIR.

Police said the accused used to frequently visit the girls' native village for killing wild animals and selling the carcasses.

On the fateful day, the accused was allegedly passing through the village on a bicycle when he spotted the girls bathing near a primary school. He lured them with two packets of biscuits.

As per a police officer, the accused Anil took the girls to a secluded spot and tried to rape the elder girl. When she resisted, the four-year-old started crying and it infuriated the accused. He got panicked and hit the elder sister with a gardening tool following which she fell unconscious. While he was trying to strangle her, the younger one ran to save her life. But the accused chased and killed her by hitting her on the head.