Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh – What should have been a joyful day of family bonds turned into a nightmare in this quiet district. A 33-year-old man named Surjeet allegedly raped and murdered his 14-year-old cousin just hours after she tied a rakhi on his wrist during Raksha Bandhan celebrations. The shocking crime has sparked fresh calls for better protection for young girls.
The incident happened on the night of August 9, right after the festival where sisters tie rakhis to brothers as a symbol of love and protection. Surjeet had visited his uncle’s home that morning, where the young girl happily tied the rakhi on him, like she would to a brother. But later that evening, after downing a lot of alcohol, he came back to the house in a drunken state. While everyone else was asleep, he attacked the girl in her room. She was sleeping peacefully when he raped her, then strangled her to death to cover his tracks. To make it look like she had taken her own life, he hung her body from the ceiling fan with a noose.
The girl’s father, who was sleeping in the next room, didn’t hear a thing during the night. He woke up the next morning, August 10, and found his daughter’s body hanging there. Shocked and heartbroken, he quickly called the police. Officers from the local station rushed to the scene and started looking around. Right away, they noticed something was off – there were bloodstains in different spots around the room, which didn’t fit with a simple suicide. They took the body for a medical check, and the post-mortem report came back clear- the girl had been sexually assaulted before she was killed. Doctors also found hair clutched in her nails and hand, like she had fought back. Police collected samples from Surjeet’s hair to match, and everything’s been sent to a lab for DNA tests.
As the investigation kicked off, Surjeet showed up at the house again. But instead of helping, he kept jumping in during questioning, answering for the family and stopping others from talking. This raised big red flags for the cops. They pulled him aside for more questions, and under pressure, he broke down and confessed to the whole thing. Auraiya’s Superintendent of Police, Abhijeet Shankar, told reporters that Surjeet admitted to the rape and murder. “The post-mortem confirmed the assault, and we’ve got strong evidence,” Shankar said. Surjeet was arrested right away and sent to jail on August 12.
The family is devastated. The father, still in shock, hasn’t said much publicly, but relatives say this has torn them apart. How could someone they trusted, a cousin who was like a brother, do something so evil? The girl was just 14, full of life, and now gone because of this betrayal. Neighbors are whispering about how alcohol played a role, but that’s no excuse for such a brutal act. This isn’t the first time Uttar Pradesh has seen crimes like this, especially against young girls, and it hits harder because it happened on a day meant for protection.
Police are wrapping up the case fast, with forensic results expected soon to seal the evidence. Surjeet faces charges of rape, murder, and trying to fake a suicide. If convicted, he could get the harshest punishment under the law, maybe even life in prison or worse. But for the family, no punishment can bring back their little girl.
Raksha Bandhan is all about brothers keeping sisters safe, but here it’s the opposite. It is a reminder that evil can hide in the closest places.
