india

Updated: Oct 24, 2017 23:00 IST

A seven-year-old girl died when her uncle allegedly pushed her and two of her sisters, aged four and nine, out of a running train in Uttar Pradesh early on Tuesday.

Police are trying to track the family from Motihari in Bihar and travelling on the Amritsar-Saharsa Express. They were on their way home from Amritsar.

An officer said the girls were thrown out in Sitapur, about 90km from Lucknow, and one of them was found dead along the tracks. She was identified as Muniya.

Her siblings, Algun Khatoon and Shamim, the youngest, were found 50km away. They were admitted to Sitapur district hospital with grave and multiple wounds. Shamim suffered a fractured skull.

Binod Kumar Singh, the railway police inspector general for Lucknow, said eldest sister Algun broke her hand and hip joint but was able to speak a bit.

She apparently told police initially that their father pushed them off the train, but later said an uncle committed the crime.

The motive was not known immediately but it was suspected that the family was trying to get rid of the sisters. In a traditionally male-dominated society, sons are viewed as assets or breadwinners while girls are often seen as a liability.

“Motihari police have been approached to track the family and know the truth. An investigation is on,” Singh said.

According to a local police officer, the girls were extremely weak and may not have eaten for days. “We are investigating whether poverty was a reason for the crime,” he said.

The three sisters were found in separate locations.

Officer Rajendra Sharma of Ramkot police station in Sitapur said they were alerted around 3am about a girl lying along railway tracks near Bhavanipur village.

“When we reached the spot and found the youngest sister, news came about the eldest sister being found near Goregaon village. Information about the third sister came later in the day,” he said.

According to Sharma, it took time to establish that the three girls were sisters.