The three-year-old, who had been missing since Wednesday, had injury marks on the head, police said. The toddler's body was recovered from the vicinity of her village in the Singahi area, police said on Thursday.
On Friday, the police said the three-year-old whose body was found in a sugarcane field was raped and murdered. No arrests made so far, police added.
Yesterday, the police had called it murder. Sexual assault was confirmed by the autopsy, said the police.
The child's father had accused another villager, Lekhram, in his complaint to the police. He had alleged that his daughter was kidnapped and killed in an old rivalry.
The police have formed four teams to look for the accused man, said Satyendra Kumar, the district police chief.
3 incidents of rape and murder in a month
Lakhimpur Kheri district has been in the news after a 17-year-old girl, who had left home to fill a scholarship application, was found dead outside her village. She was allegedly raped and murdered.
UP Horror: After Lakhimpur, Teenage Girl Raped In Gorakhpur, Singed With Cigarette Butts, 2 Men Arrested
Her mutilated body was found near a dry pond around 200 metres from her village.
Prior to this, a 13-year-old girl was raped and strangled to death in the district.
Police said the girl had gone to her fields in the afternoon and when she did not return home, her family started looking for her. She was found dead in a sugarcane field.
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Both incidents, which took place last month, drew flak from the opposition, with Congress and SP leaders attacking the Yogi Adityanath-led state government over the law and order situation.