Deoria: Youth held for Dalit girl’s murder

STF Deputy Superintendent of Police,S Anand,said Abhishek Kushwaha (20),who was held from outside Salempur railway station,confessed to attempting to rape the girl in a field. He had assaulted her,causing head injuries and strangled her when she screamed for help.

Anand said the accused,who was inebriated,had left the place,leaving the girl unconscious. In absence of any medical aid,she died. Her body was recovered the next evening.

He also said Kushwaha had been called to the local police station and was interrogated. He was let go then,as the police had no clues to grill him extensively. Anand said they zeroed in on Kushwaha after going through the sequence of the events. The day Priyanka was killed,she had gone to attend a wedding in her village,Virajmaar.

She was accompanied by her father,Ashish,brother Neeraj (8) and cousins,Annu,Mannu and Sapna (all in the age group of 5-8 years). Kushwaha had also gone to attend the function. The children told Anand that they all were leaving for home that night when a youth accompanied them. While they were walking towards their house,they saw Priyanka and the youth missing.

The STF official showed 10 photographs of youths who had attended the wedding and the children put their finger unanimously on Kushwaha’s photo. The accused had gone to West Bengal after the police interrogated him. But he returned on Sunday and was arrested a day later.