All five main accused arrested in Badaun gang rape case

All the five main accused, including two policemen, have been arrested in connection with the gang rape and murder of two Dalit sisters in Badaun, police said on Saturday.

Constable Chhatrapal Yadav was arrested late on Friday night and Urvesh Yadav was detained in the wee hours on Saturday, Superintendent of Police A K Saxena told PTI.

All the five accused named in the FIR, including constables Sarvesh Yadav, Chhatrapal and three brothers Pappu Yadav, Awadhesh Yadav and Urvesh Yadav have been arrested.

The FIR was registered against seven persons including two unnamed men after outrage over the incident.

Taking note of the incident, Katra Sadatganj police outpost in-charge Ram Vilas Yadav was been suspended and two constables -- Sarvesh and Chhatrapal -- were terminated from services on Friday, Saxena said.

While the two constables have been booked under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC, the three brothers have been booked under Section 302 (murder) and 376 (rape).

The two girls, who were cousins and aged 14 and 15, went missing from their house on the night of May 27 and their bodies were found hanging from a mango tree in the village in Ushait area on May 28.

The postmortem report of the two girls confirmed that they were raped before murder.

A lot of hue and cry has been created by the opposition, with Bahujan Samaj Party supremo demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the matter.

The family of the two victims had also demanded a CBI probe, saying they had no faith in local police which was "hand in gloves" with the accused.

The father of one of the girls had on Friday called for transferring the case to the agency alleging that the role of police was "suspicious".

"The role of police in the entire incident is suspicious. Had the cops acted timely and did not showed laxity, lives of the girls would have been saved. They were hand in gloves with the accused," father of one of the victim had told PTI here.

The Uttar Pradesh government has also sanctioned financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the family members of the victims while directing officials to provide security to them.

‘Want capital punishment for the accused, not compensation’

Meanwhile, family members of the two teenage cousin Dalit sisters on Saturday termed the incident as more gruesome than December 16 gang rape case and demanded that the accused should be hanged publicly.

Father of a victim, who was gang-raped in Ushait area on May 27 night, said that the incident was "more gruesome than Delhi rape case which rocked the nation."

He also demanded a CBI probe adding that there should be nothing less than capital punishment.

"The manner in which the entire world saw our innocent girls hanging, we want that in the same manner it should watch the accused hanging. They should be hanged publicly," he said.

The father said that he did no believe in the promises and announcements of the state government.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had on Friday came down heavily on police officers warning them that such incidents should not be repeated any cost.

He had said that family of victims should be given and also sanctioned financial assistance of rupees five lakh each to the family members of the two cousin sisters.

However, the victim's father said that they dont' want any compensation.

"We want justice and not compensation," he said.

Image: Onlookers sit at the site where two girls were hanged from a tree at Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh. Photograph: Reuters