Uttar Pradesh Police (File)
The bodies of two girls - a 16-year-old and a 14-year-old - were found hanging from a tree in a village in the Kotwali area of Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur district late Wednesday. They were allegedly forced to drink liquor and then sexually assaulted by the 18-year-old son and 19-year-old nephew of a local contractor.
The bodies have been sent for post-mortem and accused, including the contractor, have been arrested. They could face charges of gang rape and abetment of suicide, as well as those under the POCSO Act, the police said.
"Last night, information regarding bodies of two girls was received. The bodies were recovered and sent for post-mortem. Three accused - distant relatives of the girls - have been arrested," Harish Chander, Additional Police Commissioner (Law and Order), said.
"It has been said the girls were beaten and, based on some videos, were sexually assaulted," the senior cop said, adding forensic experts had swept the site where the bodies were found.
According to their families, the girls went to the fields late last evening to relieve themselves. Relatives went searching after they did not return, and found their bodies hanging from a nearby plum tree.
The families have told the police the girls were made to drink alcohol and then raped.
The accused also made a video of the assault and used it to blackmail the girls, their families told the police, alleging the hurt and humiliation led the girls to take their lives. The police have recovered videos and photographs from the mobile phones of the accused and these are being examined, officials said.
The two girls and their families worked at a brick kiln run by the contractor, and their bodies were found less than 400 metres from that kiln, news agency PTI reported.
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