Lucknow: A week after Unnao double murder case, the third victim, who was battling for life at Regency Hospital in Kanpur, regained consciousness to record her statement before the magistrate.
Roshni (17) stated before the magistrate that she along with her two cousins had gone to the field on February 17 around 3 pm. “After we collected fodder, Vinay alias Lamboo and Sachin came there and gave us snacks (kurkure). When I asked for water, Vinay gave me the bottle. After I drank the water, my cousins snatched the bottle and drank it too,” she said.
“After some time we started vomiting and sinking. Vinay and Sachin ran away from there after seeing our condition. Then I became unconscious and don’t remember anything that happened thereafter,” she told the magistrate.
When asked if Vinay and Sachin had beaten them or sexually assaulted them, she said that we would have taught them a lesson had they tried anything wrong with us. “It happened accidentally that my cousins too drank that water,” she clarified.
On February 17, three minor dalit girls were found unconscious in a field in Baburaha village in Unnao district. White foam was oozing out of their mouth. Two of them were declared brought dead at the community health centre while the third was referred to Regency Hospital in Kanpur in critical condition.
The double murder of two dalit minor girls hogged national headlines. Bodies of the two girls were cremated amid tight security on February 19. Leaders of opposition parties and social media activists thronged the village to blame the Yogi Adityanath government for the murder of the two dalit minor girls.
The Chief Minister had announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakhs to family of those killed and issued directives for free medical expenses to the girl who survived.
On February 20, the Unnao Police arrested Vinay and Sachin. During interrogation, Vinay told the police that he had mixed pesticide in the water bottle to teach lesson to one of the girl who had spurned his offer for love. A resident of nearby Pathakpur village, Vinay knew the girl since last year and started having one-sided love affair.
