Bodies of two minor girls aged 16 and 14 were found hanging from a tree in Barauli village of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh (UP) on Wednesday. Their family alleged that the girls were gang-raped a few days ago and threatened into silence. Three men are arrested in the case on Friday (March 29th).
The Bodies of Two Minor Girls were Found Hanged to a Tree
On Wednesday, two minor girls were found in a jujube tree with a torn dupatta. Girls after completing their daily chores went to the field, a 16-year-old girl’s brother told the media. However, when they did not return till 8 pm, their family began a search everywhere and found their minor’s dead bodies hanging to a tree.
Two girls, one 16-year-old is the second of five children of her parents and a 14-year-old is her cousin. The girls belong to a vulnerable background, staying in a kutcha house made of unburnt bricks, as both the girl’s fathers and one of their uncles work in the brick kiln.
Gangrape and Blackmailing
Three accused Ramroop Nisad (48) labour contractor, his son Rajjo (18), and his nephew Sanjay (19) got arrested on Friday.
The family said Rajjo and his brother Sanjay allegedly had made objectional photos and videos of the two minor girls. A day later Rajjo and Sanjay allegedly entered the house of the girls and raped them when they were alone. They also beat up the girls and threatened them into silence.
The girl’s brother alleged that the girls were sexually harassed by these accused for quite some time. The accused entered the girl’s house, lured them by offering money, and forced them to drink alcohol and smoke bidis. After harassing them, they raped them and recorded their video and his younger sister witnessed all this, he added.
The brother further told the media, that on Monday, their uncle who works in the kiln, got to know that Rajjo had objectionable pictures and videos of the minor girls.
The girls had also told the incident to their aunt and when she confronted Ramroop on Tuesday, she was beaten up by him. Ramroop had also offered 5 lakh to the family of minors to silence them, the girl’s grandfather alleged.
FIR against Three Accused
The FIR has been lodged under IPC section 376 D (gangrape), 306 (abetment of suicide), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult to provoke someone), and POCSO and IT Act sections.
Police’s Statement 
Kanpur Additional Commissioner of Police, Harish Chandra said Ghatampur police received information about the bodies at 12.30 pm. They have arrested all three accused, and further action will be taken after getting post-mortem reports of the bodies. He added photos of minor girls had been found in the mobile phones of the three accused and had been sent to the forensic team.
Senior Kanpur police officer told media that the girls were traumatized when their family scolded them over photos and videos, and gangrape a day later forced them to end their lives.
A Similar Case of Gangrape
This incident has been compared to the 2014 Badaun incident and 2022 Lakhimpur Kheri gangrapes.
In the Baduan case, two minor girls of Dalit Maurya community were kidnapped, gang-raped, and hanged to a tree in Katra Sadatganj village in UP. In the Lakhimpur Kheri gangrape incident, two Dalit girls aged 17 and 15, were kidnapped, gang-raped, and murdered by hanging to a tree in their village.
However, the caste angle has not been established in this case, so far.
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