The death of two minor Dalit girls, who were found hanging from a tree in Bhagautipur village of Uttar Pradesh’s Farrukhabad district on Tuesday, remains a mystery with the police and the victims’ kin engaged in a war of words over whether the incident was a murder or suicide.
While police, on the basis of findings and post-mortem report, said the deaths were a case of double suicide, the family members allege that the minors were murdered. The incident has also turned political, with the Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) raising a question mark over women’s safety in the state.
“Our investigation is on, we are trying to find out the factors that led to the deaths. Our initial investigation and post-mortem report of the girls aged 15 and 17 years have confirmed that the duo died by suicide,” said Alok Priyadarshi, Superintendent of Police (SP), Farukhabad.
Sources with UP Police said the call details of both the girls have been accessed in order to find the reason behind the probable suicide.
The incident
The residents of Bhagautipur woke up to the horrific news on Tuesday as images of the minors hanging from a tree flooded the media.
“I left home early in the morning at around 4.30am to relieve myself. While passing a tree in a mango orchard, I spotted something unusual. From a distance, it appeared to be a long, red-coloured cloth. However, when I came near the tree, I spotted the two girls hanging from it and the red-coloured cloth was the kurta that one of the girls was wearing,” said a villager who first spotted the bodies. Residents said the incident reminded them of the infamous 2014 Badaun rape case in which two girls were found hanging from a tree in a similar manner.
The man rushed to the village to break the news to the families who were searching for their missing daughters. “Both girls were friends and neighbours. They went together to see the tableau at the nearby temple on Janmashtami on Monday evening. That was the last time we saw them. The next morning, they were found hanging from the tree,” said the father of one of the girls.
According to the police, both the girls were found hanging using two ends of the same stole (dupatta). The duo went missing from the village temple where they had gone to see the Janmashtami tableau at around 9pm on Monday night.
Post mortem hints at suicide
Dr Avneendra Kumar, Chief Medical Officer of Farrukhabad, said the post mortem revealed no signs of sexual assault or retaliation. “Both girls died of asphyxia due to hanging,” he said. Forensic investigators also discovered footmarks on the tree, suggesting the girls may have climbed it to die by suicide, police added.
Families not convinced
The kin of the girls, however, insist that they were murdered. “My daughter can’t die by suicide; she had no reason to. She was just 15, a happy-go-lucky girl with no mental pressure or tension. They were good friends; why would they die by suicide for no reason? There is something fishy. The police should investigate the matter thoroughly,” said the father of one of the girls. On Wednesday, the grieving families staged a demonstration after some claimed to have spotted marks on the girls’ bodies. However, following intervention by the district administration and the police, the agitated family members agreed to cremate the duo.
Political Twist
The incident drew sharp criticism from the Opposition, with Congress terming UP a “crematorium” for women. “In Farrukhabad, the bodies of two girls who had gone to the temple on the day of Janmashtami were found hanging in a mango orchard. Who hanged them here? Why did they hang them? Nobody knows anything. This state has become a crematorium for women. No woman who steps out of her home feels safe here. The government must take some concrete steps to rein in these fearless beasts! Till when will our sisters and daughters continue to live in fear?” the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) posted on X.
SP chief and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav questioned UP’s law and order on X. “It is a very sensitive incident that the bodies of two girls, who had gone out to see Janmashtami celebrations In Farrukhabad, Uttar Pradesh, were found hanging from a tree. The BJP government should immediately conduct an impartial inquiry into this matter and submit its report on this suspicious case of murder. Such incidents create a horrific atmosphere in society, which causes deep mental trauma to women. The inevitable time has come to raise ‘women safety’ as a serious issue, rising above politics,” he said.
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