Proposal rejected, youth stabs 19-year-old to death

SHAHAJAHNPUR: Angry that his marriage proposal was turned down, an enraged

youth

allegedly stabbed to death a 19-year-old girl in a village in Lakhimpur Kheri district on Saturday morning.

An FIR has been registered against 25-year-old Raju Khan, who is on the run, police said. The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim's family. According to the victim's family members, the accused is a relative of one of daughters-in-law. They said Raju Khan often visited their house and had expressed his desire to marry the 19-year-old. However, her family turned down the proposal as Raju did not have a good reputation in the area. However, they never expected him to attack and kill the girl in such a brutal way.

On Saturday morning, passersby found the body of the girl outside the village. Later, the body was identified. The girl had been repeatedly stabbed with a sharp knife on her face and neck, police said. The body has been sent for postmortem. Police have not ruled out the possibility of sexual assault in this case and are waiting the autopsy report.

Speaking with TOI, victim's elder brother said, "I had warned my brother-in-law Raju Khan to keep distance from my sister after he expressed his wish to marry her. He even tried to force my sister to sit on his motorcycle and she complained about it to us. I am sure that Raju has killed my sister because he was very angry with us and threatened to avenge his 'insult'."

The victim's elder sister said, "After completing household works, we both slept in the same room. In the morning, I woke up hearing a commotion and came to know that a body was lying outside the village. When I turned to wake up my sister, she was not on the bed. I searched for her in the house but she was nowhere to be found. Later, we were informed that she had been brutally killed. I couldn't see the body but the killer stabbed her several times as if he was giving vent to his anger. I am sure she was killed by Raju after he was warned by my brother to stay away from her a few days ago." Station officer of Hyderabad police station Satyendra Kumar told TOI , "We have booked one person in this case and he will be arrested soon. The accused is a relative of the deceased's brother. This murder seems to be an act of revenge. We are waiting for the postmortem report to determine if the girl was sexually assaulted."