3 min readLucknowApr 27, 2026 11:08 PM IST
First published on: Apr 27, 2026 at 05:23 PM IST
A Class XII student was allegedly sexually assaulted and murdered in Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarh district, with her body found hanging from a tree in what police suspect was an attempt by the accused to stage the crime as a suicide.
Police said they suspect the involvement of three minors, including a distant relative. Circle Officer Amar Nath Gupta said he has been detained, while efforts are underway to trace the others.
The suspects are uneducated and come from farming backgrounds.
Police said both the victim, aged 19, and the juveniles are from the Dalit community.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Pratapgarh, Brijnandan Rai, said the relative is a minor, while the exact age of the other two suspects will be confirmed once they are caught.
According to police, the victim’s brother alleged that his sister was sleeping near the entrance to their house on Saturday night when she was abducted by unidentified persons. The family woke up the next morning, saw she was missing and began searching for her. The brother claimed they finally found her hanging from a tree, a short distance from their home.
Police teams rushed to the spot on receiving information and sent the body for a post-mortem examination. Preliminary findings indicated that the cause of death was smothering. Police also said initial autopsy findings suggested sexual assault, and forensic samples have been sent for further examination to confirm the findings.
During investigation, police found that the victim had been in contact with her relative through her father’s mobile phone. Police claimed on Saturday night, the minor called her to a field 450 metres from her house and she went there, but found he was accompanied by two others.
Police said the minor relative allegedly sexually assaulted her and then forced his friends to assault her as well.
When the girl resisted and raised an alarm, the accused allegedly overpowered her and covered her mouth to prevent her cries from being heard. When the girl died, they allegedly dragged her and hanged her from a tree.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X in Hindi on Monday, said, “The news of the heinous murder of a Dalit daughter in Pratapgarh is deeply tragic and condemnable.” “The question remains: why does the spate of murders of ‘PDA daughters’ continue unabated in Uttar Pradesh? Are the BJP government’s claims regarding women’s safety merely hollow rhetoric, or is there, in fact, discrimination even in the provision of security for women?” he said.
“Whenever the ‘wandering Honourable (ghumantu maananiye)’ finds a moment of respite from election campaigning, he should cast a glance at the plight of the daughters of his own Uttar Pradesh. In any case, apart from injustice and oppression, no sister, daughter, or mother of this state holds any hope from you,” Yadav added.
-with PTI inputs
Police said the minor relative allegedly sexually assaulted her and then forced his friends to assault her as well. (Credits: Pexels) 
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