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The bodies of two teenage Indian girls
who had been gang-raped were found hanging from a mango tree Wednesday morning
in a village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
The girls, ages 14 and 15, were cousins and were part
of the Dalit community, formerly known as “untouchables,” according to the Times of India.
They reportedly went missing from their home Tuesday night.
According to
“We haven’t concluded the investigations but as of now
we believe the girls were assaulted for their low caste,” Man Singh Chauhan,
senior superintendent of police in Badaun, where the attack occurred, told The
Washington Post.
The BBC
reported one man has been held for the murders and two officers were removed
from duty for not following up when the girls were reported missing, police
said. News outlets in
Police said they are still waiting on the autopsy
report of the two girls who were examined and then cremated on Wednesday,
according to news reports.
Gang rape, particularly of low-caste girls, has become
a highly publicized problem in
After the 2012 attacks — and following protests and an
investigation — the government tightened laws on sexual violence. Senior
police official Atul Saxena told the BBC that police were looking for two more
men in connection with Wednesday’s incident.
“We are still investigating how the girls went missing
and were allegedly raped and hung from a tree,” Saxena told the BBC.
Chauhan said the “the two girls were abducted by the
accused on Tuesday and were sexually assaulted and later hanged to death. We have
arrested two accused, and three others are on run. The two are being
questioned.”
He also said two policemen have been suspended for not filing a report when the family contacted them to say the girls were missing.
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