Hamirpur, January 15: In a gruesome incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur district, a 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and burnt alive. As per reports, the minor was gang-raped by two men on Sunday evening in Majhgawan area when she was alone at home. As per Police reports, the accused also attacked the girl’s younger brother with sticks and an axe. The victim’s brother said that his sister was alone in the house when two men from the same village reached there and raped her.

An FIR was filed against the two men. A search operation has been launched to arrest the accused who fled after the incident. Additional superintendent of police (ASP), Hamirpur, Sahab Lal Yadav was quoted by Hindustan Times saying that efforts are underway to arrest the accused.  “Prima facie it appears that the girl committed suicide after she was allegedly raped. We are questioning some people about the whereabouts of the accused,” Yadav added.

“I returned at around 6 pm and found the front door locked, I scaled the wall and entered the house from the roof,” he further added. Reports further added that when the victim’s brother raised an alarm, the two men hit him with sticks and axe.  “I felt a strong odour of charred flesh and saw the two men standing near the body. A bottle of kerosene was lying there”, he was quoted by HT.

The victim’s father-  who is a farmer alleged mentioned in the FIR that the accused men also took away cash and jewellery that they had bought for her girl’s marriage. The girl’s marriage was scheduled in April this year.

According to the report, the family of the victim alleged that the two accused men- Sonu and Sunil, had set her on fire after raping her. The victim’s brother said that he had gone to his grandmother’s house for some work when the two men entered the house and raped his sister while their parents were out to attend a marriage ceremony.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 15, 2018 06:47 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).