Lakhimpur girl rape-and-murder case: Tirath slams UP govt

New Delhi, Jun 13: Taking serious note of the alleged rape-and-murder of a minor girl at a police station in Uttar Pradesh, Union Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath today (June 3) accused the state government of being "insensitive" and said the Centre must intervene.

Slamming the ruling BSP in UP, Tirath said she will write a "strong" letter to Chief Minister Mayawati asking her what action the state government has taken regarding the alleged rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl allegedly by some police personnel in Lakhimpur.

Tirath said she has asked the National Commission for Women to probe the matter and will also meet Union Home Minister P Chidambaram and discuss the issue.

"It is a very serious matter. I will take this up with the Home Minister. Such incidents are occurring repeatedly in UP and the government is insensitive. I have also written to the NCW to probe the matter and after they give a report, action will be taken accordingly," she said.

"If such things continue to happen, some tough step will have to be taken. The Central government must intervene. The state government must take responsibility for this. If they can't, they should quit," Tirath said.

NCW Chairperson Yasmeen Abrar said the commission has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and sought a report.

"We will take a decision on sending a probe team to the spot after getting their response," she said.

The National Human Rights Commission has already sent its investigation team to look into the alleged rape and killing of the girl and issued notice to UP DGP, calling for a detailed report on the incident within four weeks.

PTI