Lakhimpur rape-murder: Journalist manhandled ‘for trying to film police assault on mother of victims'

A journalist has alleged that he was manhandled by the police for trying to film an assault on the mother of the Lakhimpur Kheri rape-murder victims inside a police station in the district in Uttar Pradesh. In a video widely circulated on social media, police personnel can be seen pushing Nand Kishor outside a building, surrounded by cameras and crowds.

Speaking to Aaj Tak, the journalist claimed that he was present at the police chowki in Lakhimpur Kheri where the parents of the deceased minors had arrived to file a complaint. Alleging that the police pulled the minors’ mother by her hair and assaulted her, Nand Kishor claimed that he was pushed away by the SHO and the chowki incharge as he tried to record the incident on his phone. “You will do journalism after coming here?” the journalist was allegedly told.

The incident captured in the video reportedly took place on Wednesday evening.

Six accused were arrested and booked under the POCSO Act on Thursday, a day after two minor Dalits sisters were found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district. One of the accused was shot in the leg in an “encounter”. The accused are identified as Chotu Gautam, Junaid, Suhail, Hafizul Rehman, Karimuddin and Arif.

On Wednesday evening, angry residents had blocked a road in protest, and the blockade was lifted only after senior police officers, including the SP, assured a thorough probe and strict action against the guilty.

The FIR was filed late on Wednesday night under IPC sections 302 (murder), 323 (voluntary causing hurt), 452 (trespass) and 378 (theft), and under provisions of the POCSO Act.

The police and the victims’ family are yet to respond to allegations made by the journalist.