Mystery Surrounds Suspicious Deaths of Two Dalit Girls in Uttar Pradesh

Two Dalit girls, ages 15 and 18, were found dead by hanging in Fatehgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Initially reported as suicides, discrepancies in the postmortem have led to allegations of foul play by the victims' families. Authorities have promised a swift and thorough investigation into the matter.

A day after the bodies of two Dalit girls were found outside a village in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehgarh, a panel of doctors on Wednesday pointed towards suicide, saying they died due to hanging.

The Dalit 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, police on Tuesday said, adding that they were residents of the Bhagautipur village. 'The postmortem was conducted by a panel of doctors. They (girls) died due to hanging. No external injury marks have been found of the bodies,' Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Avnindra Singh said.

The doctor panel has sent slides of vaginal fluid to the laboratory to rule out the possibility of rape, the CMO added.

The police said the findings of the postmortem align with their initial investigation into the case.

'The findings of the police investigation correlate with the findings of the postmortem examination. The girls have committed suicide. No external injury marks have been found on the bodies,' Superintendent of Police (SP) Alok Priyadarshi said.

'Police teams are now investigating the reasons that forced the girls to take the extreme step,' he noted.

Meanwhile, the father of one of the deceased girls has alleged that the findings of the postmortem are false and the report is fake. 'You have found out that they committed suicide by hanging, but the injury marks on their bodies have not come in your report. This is all fake. All the reports are false,' the father told PTI Videos.

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.

Both officials met with the family members and assured them of a swift investigation into the matter, after which the families agreed to proceed with the last rites of the deceased, they added. The bodies of the teenaged girls were recovered outside a village in the Kayamganj police station area on Tuesday morning.

According to the police, the girls were close friends and lived in the same neighbourhood. The bodies were hanging with two 'dupattas' which were tied together, they said.

(With inputs from agencies.)