On April 4, 2020, in Terai Fatak village, Lalitpur district, Uttar Pradesh, a 14-year-old minor girl was lured into the home of her neighbors, Ashok Yadav and his wife Rachna, under the pretext of receiving vegetables or doing minor chores. Once inside, the door was locked from the inside, and Ashok Yadav sexually assaulted the girl. When she threatened to tell her family, Rachna threatened her, and the perpetrators poured kerosene over her and set her on fire inside their house. After neighbors reacted to the fire, the accused transported the victim to Lalitpur Hospital in their vehicle while threatening her to claim she self-immolated. She was later transferred to Gwalior Burn Hospital with 75% burn injuries, where she gave a dying declaration disclosing the rape and immolation before dying on April 8, 2020. Despite directives from the Allahabad High Court in 2022 for a speedy 6-month trial, court proceedings in the special POCSO court dragged on until September 2025, during which defense witnesses were summoned and the victim's family faced persistent road threats and harassment demanding a compromise.
Country: India
State/Province: Uttar Pradesh, India
City/Region: Lalitpur
Incident Type: Murder
Relationship Status: Unknown
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Incident Date: April 4, 2020
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2020-04-04
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English labels are shown first. Original-language titles are preserved for source verification.
Crime Tak - India · Original language: Hindi
Lalitpur Case: 14 साल की मासूम के साथ दरिंदगी, 5 साल बाद इंसाफ़ की आस
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The case involves neighbor-based opportunistic sexual assault and extreme fatal violence against a vulnerable minor child. After committing the crime, the perpetrators attempted to silence the victim through fatal immolation, coercive pressure, and post-incident evidence tampering. Furthermore, the case exhibits a severe pattern of witness intimidation and trial delay tactic targeting the victim's surviving family.
Note: This case is not primarily relationship-driven in a domestic or romantic sense; it is a neighbor-based sexual assault and murder of a minor child. Police filed an FIR under Talbehat Police Station (FIR No. 67/2020) and the case was registered in the special POCSO Court in Lalitpur (Session Case No. 237/2020). Forensic and DNA evidence supported the victim's second dying declaration recorded at Gwalior Burn Hospital. In 2022, the Allahabad High Court directed the POCSO court to resolve the trial within 6 months, but final arguments were completed only in 2025. Applications regarding witness intimidation were submitted to the Lalitpur Superintendent of Police.
Initial confusion arose because the victim's first dying declaration at Lalitpur Hospital did not explicitly mention rape, as she was terrified and under the direct influence and threats of the perpetrators who transported her. Later, during treatment for 75% burn injuries at Gwalior Burn Hospital, she gave a second dying declaration clarifying that she had been locked inside, sexually assaulted, and set on fire.
The victim entered the neighbors' house after being called over under the guise of taking vegetables. Once inside, Ashok Yadav and Rachna locked the door, and Ashok Yadav raped the child. When she threatened to tell her family, Rachna threatened her brother's life and the perpetrators poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze. Hearing her distress, neighbors gathered, prompting the perpetrators to rush her to the hospital while coercing her statement. At Gwalior Hospital, her detailed dying declaration was corroborated by DNA and FSL crime scene evidence, establishing the sequence of assault and immolation.
The risk to the surviving family remains extremely high due to ongoing physical threats and road blockades by associates of the main accused. The accused party wields local political influence (with the accomplice serving as village head) and financial power, creating significant safety risks for witnesses and victim relatives throughout the trial.
Severe post-assault violence and threat of exposure often lead offenders to resort to extreme destruction of evidence, including immolation. Coercion during initial victim transport can compromise first statements, highlighting the vital need for independent medical interviews and detailed secondary forensic statements in child sexual abuse cases.
The primary early signal was the deceptive call by neighboring adults inviting a familiar 14-year-old child inside their home under minor household pretexts when no guardians were present.
Key clues included the burn marks on the crime scene floor that could not be cleaned up, witness accounts of the locked door from the inside, and forensic DNA evidence matching the victim's secondary dying declaration.
Strongest evidence types included the formal dying declaration recorded at Gwalior Burn Hospital, forensic science laboratory (FSL) burn scene findings, DNA analysis, and inconsistent statements from defense witnesses regarding the interior lock of the house.
The victim's grandmother reported the severe terror and fear the child expressed while being held by the perpetrators. Defense witness Indrapal admitted in court that the house was locked from the inside and took considerable time to open when neighbors assembled.
Initial police reports based on the coerced first declaration framed the incident without rape charges, but follow-up declarations in Gwalior and forensic testing established aggravated rape and murder charges under the POCSO Act.
The final court verdict and sentencing had been repeatedly adjourned over successive days in September 2025 despite final arguments being completed, leaving the formal judicial outcome pending at the time of reporting.