Gorakhpur (UP), Oct 2 (PTI) Two persons were arrested here on Monday in connection with the rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl, police said.

The accused were identified as Sunil Gaur (35) and Durgesh Kumar Yadav alias Melhu (21), both residents of the Pipiganj police station area, they said.

Also Read | Lal Bahadur Shastri Birth Anniversary 2023: Interesting Facts About Former Prime Minister of India Who Gave ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ Slogan.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gaurav Grover told reporters that Sunil Gaur had been visiting the girl's house to buy fodder for the past few months. During this time, he became acquainted with her mother and started talking to her on the phone.

Simultaneously, Gaur also started talking to the girl and their friendship gradually evolved into a romantic relationship, the SSP said.

Also Read | Gandhi Jayanti 2023: Interesting Facts About ‘Father of Nation’ Mahatma Gandhi on His 154th Birth Anniversary.

On September 26, when the girl's mother had gone out for some work, Gaur went to her house and raped her. The girl asked Gaur to marry her. Angered by this, Gaur had an argument with the girl and slammed her head against a wooden bed before strangling her to death, he said.

Later, Gaur called Yadav, who was waiting outside the girl's house, and the two hanged the body from the room's ceiling with a saree to make it look like the teenager committed suicide. They escaped through a ventilator in the room after locking it from inside, Grover said.

After receiving information about the incident, a case was registered at Campierganj police station. During the course of investigation, the roles of Gaur and Yadav came to light and they were arrested on Monday, he said.

The two have been booked under sections 302 (murder), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)