New Delhi, Jun 7 (IANS): Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his sister and party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday condemned the brutal killing of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh district and demanded strict action against the accused.

"The horrific murder of a little girl in Aligarh, UP has shocked and disturbed me. How can any human being treat a child with such brutality? This terrible crime must not go unpunished. The UP police must act swiftly to bring the killers to justice," the Congress President tweeted.

Condemning the inhumane act, Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet: "The brutal murder in Aligarh is yet another inhuman, unspeakable crime against an innocent child. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain her parents must feel. What has become of us?"

The Congress leaders' remarks came days after the toddler's badly mutilated body was found in a dumping ground near her house in Tappal town on June 2, three days after she went missing.

According to the Uttar Pradesh Police, the victim was strangled to death and her eyes were gouged out after her parents allegedly failed to repay a loan of Rs 10,000.

Two of the accused have been arrested.