NEW DELHI: Two teenage girls found hanged in May took their own lives and were not raped or murdered, police investigators told media yesterday, fuelling further criticism of their handling of a case that sparked global outrage.
Initial inquiries suggested the cousins, aged 14 and 15, from a low-caste community, were raped before being hanged from a mango tree in Badaun district in India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh
After five months of inquiry, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said forensic tests contradicted earlier findings and it had concluded the girls were not sexually assaulted and were not murdered.
“Our probe found that the two girls had committed suicide and weren’t murdered,” CBI director Ranjit Sinha told the Hindustan Times.
A senior CBI official was quoted as saying the girls took their own lives “because of family pressure owing to disapproval of their friendship with a villager”.
The Aam Admi Party, born out of the anti-graft movement that swept India three years ago, rejected the CBI’s suicide theory and demanded the CBI reconsider its report.
“It seems humanly impossible for two girls to hang themselves or the CBI is not sharing the full facts,” the party said in a statement.
“Badaun seems to be a convenient cover-up to avoid international shame and acceptance of the dismal law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh.”
Officials said that the height of tree was not such that the girls couldn’t have reached its branches.
Three brothers were arrested and held in jail in Badaun, 200 km southeast of the capital, New Delhi, but were released on bail when a 90-day period to press charges expired.
Two policemen were held on suspicion of trying to cover up the apparent killings but were also released.
CBI investigators dismissed any involvement of the five men.
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