Teenage girl allegedly strangles 7-yr-old brother over lollipop in UP’s Basti, stages it as suicide

A 15-year-old girl allegedly strangled her seven-year-old brother to death following a quarrel over a lollipop in Uttar Pradesh’s Basti district and later tried to pass it off as suicide by hanging, police said. The incident occurred on April 11 at Thalhapar village under Lalganj police station limits, around 22 km from the district headquarters.

According to police and family members, the boy was found hanging from a ceiling hook with a scarf on the house terrace. Hearing the girl’s screams, family members rushed to the spot, brought the child down, and took him to a primary health centre in Bankati. Doctors referred him to the district hospital in Basti due to his critical condition, but he died on the way.

The family, initially believing it to be a case of suicide, performed the last rites without informing the police. Later that afternoon, around 3 pm, a call was made to Dial 112, following which local police reached the spot and carried out preliminary formalities. Suspicion lingered within the family, with the father questioning how a seven-year-old child could take his own life.

Six days after the incident, the girl broke down on April 17 and confessed to killing her younger brother.

Circle officer (Rudhauli) Kuldeep Singh Yadav, said the minor’s statement has been recorded and further legal proceedings are underway.

According to her statement, she was playing with the boy in a room on the terrace when they fought over a lollipop. In a fit of rage, she allegedly strangled him, causing him to lose consciousness.

Believing him to be dead, she then hung the body from a ceiling hook using a scarf to make it appear as suicide, and raised an alarm to mislead the family. Based on the father’s complaint, police registered a murder case and took the girl into judicial protection.

The circle officer said the boy was the youngest among five siblings and studied in Class 2 at a local convent school, while the accused girl is the eldest and studies in Class 8. Their father is a farmer, he added.