New Delhi: The 17-year-old girl who had survived an alleged attempt on her life at a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district said in her statement recorded before a magistrate on Tuesday that she was poisoned and denied there was any attempt to sexually assault her.
The girl was found in an agriculture field along with two others, who were her cousins and were also minors, aged 16 and 13. They were found unconscious in an agriculture field in Babuhara village of the Asoha police station area last Wednesday.
They had left home to collect fodder for cattle but did not return. On finding them there, the locals rushed them to a hospital, where the younger girls were declared brought dead. The 17-year-old was later taken to a Kanpur hospital, where she is undergoing treatment.
The UP Police have arrested two people in the case, a 28-year-old and a minor. The 28-year-old, Vinay, apparently poisoned the girl after she rejected his advances.
According to news agency PTI, superintendent of police (Unnao) Anand Kulkarni said the girl’s statement was recorded on Tuesday morning. He said the girl in her statement stated that Vinay and his friend had come to the field on the day of the incident. At that time, she and the two other girls were collecting fodder for cattle.
Vinay offered some snacks, which the girls refused. After this, Vinay gave them water. When they drank it, they fell unconscious, the girl’s statement says, according to the police.
Kulkarni said the girl’s statement says the accused did not attempt to sexually assault her. According to police, the accused gave some pesticide mixed with water to the three girls.
The accused and the victims all belong to the Scheduled Caste community.
According to the Indian Express, Kulkarni said, “On Monday, she gave her statement to an executive magistrate. On Tuesday, she recorded her statement to the police and the chief judicial magistrate.”
He also said that the lab report identified the poison as sulfosulfuron, a herbicide. “This poison is almost odourless, which could be the reason why the girls did not realise they were drinking poison,” the SP said, according to the newspaper.
Kulkarni also said that the water supply in the village is “high on sulphur content”. This could also be a reason why the girls drank water without realising it was poisoned, he said.
On Sunday, the Unnao police said that an FIR had been registered against eight Twitter handles – including @themojostory, a YouTube channel run by Barkha Dutt – for posting “fake, misleading information which caused anger among common people”.
(With PTI inputs)
