Suicide or murder? Father raises questions over girls’ deaths in Farrukhabad; Priyanka Gandhi says ’if Dalits, poor…’

The father of one of the two deceased girls who were found hanging from a tree at Bhagautipur village in Farrukhabad's Kaimganj, on Wednesday raised doubts over the post-mortem findings, and asked why the injury marks on their bodies have not come in the report.

The Dalit girls, aged 15 and 18, were found hanging on Tuesday. The girls had left home on Monday around 10pm to visit a nearby temple on the occasion of Janmashtami. However, they did not return home and their bodies were found in mango orchard.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Avnindra Singh said that the post-mortem was conducted by a panel of doctors, adding the girls died due to hanging.

"No external injury marks have been found of the bodies," PTI quoted Singh as saying.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Alok Priyadarshi also said that the girls, who were close friends and lived in the same neighbourhood, died by suicide and further probe was underway to find the reason that ‘forced’ the girls to take the extreme step.

The police said the findings of the post-mortem align with their initial investigation into the case.

"No external injury marks have been found on the bodies," said Priyadarshi.

However, alleging that the findings of the post-mortem are false, the father of one of the deceased girls said that all the reports are false

"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 family members have also claimed that one of the bodies had marks from a belt and claimed that thorns were pierced.

"We are labelling allegations of murder because the girl with higher weight was up and the girl with lesser weight was down. She had marks of injury on her leg, and thorns were pierced in her body and also had marks of belts," ANI quoted the father of one of the deceased girl as saying.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and Priyanka Gandhi have slammed the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government.

Sharing a video of the father of the deceased girls seeking justice, Rahul Gandhi asked, “Even expecting justice under a BJP government is a crime! What can one expect from those whose priority is not justice but hiding the crime even in the most serious incidents against the weak and the deprived?”

In a post on X, Priyanka Gandhi asked if the Dalits, backward, deprived, poor, women, or whoever is weak, should give up hope of justice now.

"Why does a father have to raise these questions after such a horrific incident? Doesn't a victim's father have the right to know the truth about the treatment meted out to his daughter? Why is the administration in a hurry to cremate the bodies of the girls?," Priyanka asked.