Two men have been charged with abetment of suicide on Friday following the deaths of two Dalit girls, aged 15 and 18, who were found hanging in an orchard on Tuesday.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Alok Priyadarshi said that the men were booked under section 108 (abetment of suicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on Thursday following a complaint from the girl's family members.
"The accused are in police custody and will be put under arrest after questioning," he said.
Police said the girls left their homes around 10 pm on August 26 to visit a nearby temple on the occasion of Janmashtami but did not return.
After their bodies were found, a panel of doctors was formed to conduct the postmorterm.
"Police investigation findings correlate with the postmortem report that the girls committed suicide. No injury marks have been found on the bodies," Priyadarshi had said on Wednesday.
What happened?
The girls, aged 15 and 18, had left their homes on August 26 around 10 pm to visit a nearby temple on the occasion of Janmashtami but did not return.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Avnindra Singh told media, "The postmortem was conducted by a panel of doctors. They (girls) died due to hanging. No external injury marks have been found on the bodies."
"The doctor panel has sent slides of vaginal fluid to the laboratory to rule out the possibility of rape," the CMO added.
The father of the second deceased girl also said he suspects that the girls were murdered. "We want the truth to come out. We don't have any enmity with anyone," he said.
The girls' family members initially refused to perform their last rites, demanding a meeting with the district magistrate and superintendent of police, the police said.
The families had on Tuesday demanded a CB-CID probe into the matter.
The incident also sparked an outrage pointing out lack of safety for girls and followed by a political slugfest in the state.
