Lucknow: The bodies of two cousins, aged 16 and 14, were found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh’s Barauli village Wednesday, a day after they were allegedly gangraped and threatened into silence. Three men have been arrested in the case.
The girls’ family claims the accused had sexually harassed them previously as well.
The family found the minors’ bodies hanging from a jujube tree with nooses made from a dupatta, at around midnight in the village in Kanpur’s Ghatampur area. The incident has been compared to the 2014 Budaun and 2022 Lakhimpur Kheri gangrapes. However, no caste angle has been established so far in this case.
Police said one of the accused, Rajjo, is the son of labour contractor Ramroop, who hails from Khair Ka Dera village in Hamirpur and brought the girls’ family from his village to work at a brick kiln in Barauli. The other accused is Rajjo’s cousin, Sanjay. Ramroop is named in the FIR too, with the girls’ family claiming he tried to threaten them into silence.
The family said they confronted Rajjo Monday for objectionable pictures and videos he allegedly had of the 16-year-old victim. A day later, Rajjo and Sanjay allegedly entered the girls’ home in the absence of their father and brother, and raped them. They also allegedly beat up the girls and told them to keep quiet about it.
A senior Kanpur police officer told ThePrint that the girls were left traumatised after their family scolded them over the pictures and videos. The gangrape, a day later, allegedly pushed them to take their own lives.
‘Sexual harassment started earlier’
The girls’ family stays in a kuccha house in a cluster of houses made with small, unburnt bricks. Ramroop and Rajjo live a few metres away from this cluster.
The 16-year-old is the second of five children of her parents, while the 14-year-old is her cousin. Both the girls’ fathers and one of their uncles work in the brick kiln.
The 16-year-old girl’s elder brother, who works in a local shop, told ThePrint that his uncle, who works in the brick kiln, found out Monday that Rajjo had objectionable pictures and videos of his sister.
“I confronted him (Rajjo) and asked him to hand over his phone to me, but he refused. After some time, he gave the phone to his uncle, who deleted the videos and photos and handed over the phone to me. I asked them if they thought I was a fool and fought with them,” he said.
The brother said that the next day, Rajjo and his cousin, Sanjay, entered their kuccha house when he and his father were out and raped the girls.
“Rajjo had been sexually harassing my sister for some time. We were unaware, but my younger sister later told us about that. My father was in Hamirpur (on Tuesday) for harvest. I was at the shop. Two of my younger sisters and their cousin were alone at the house,” said the brother.
“Rajjo and Sanjay came to our house and lured my sisters by offering money to them. They forced them to drink alcohol and smoke bidis. They then raped the girls, which they recorded,” he said.
He said his younger sister witnessed the incident.
“The girls revealed their ordeal to our aunt, who stays near our house. When she confronted Ramroop Tuesday, he beat up my aunt,” he said.
The girls’ grandfather told the media Thursday that Rajjo and Sanjay had been harassing the girls for several days.
“They would take the girls away, make them smoke bidis, and drink alcohol and harass them. Ramroop offered us Rs 5 lakh to ensure we did not complain. He said he is a contractor and has a lot of money,” he said.
The news of the confrontation between the girls’ family and the labour contractor’s family reached the brick kiln owner, who remained silent as Ramroop threatened to stop labourers from working at the site, the brother said.
The news spreading among the brick kiln labourers further traumatised the girls, who decided to end their lives, the family said.
“On Wednesday night, my sister cooked food for me and my father. She served it to us lovingly and told us she and our cousin were going to the fields to relieve themselves. However, when they did not return till 8 pm, we got concerned and began to search for them. My father spotted their bodies hanging from the jujube tree with the torn dupatta,” said the brother.
In a 29 February statement, Kanpur Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Harish Chander said that at 12.30 pm, the Ghatampur police received information about the bodies.
“The family members of the girls said they (the girls) had been beaten up and their videos made in objectionable situations before the gangrape. We arrested all three accused. Further legal action will be after we receive the girls’ postmortem reports. A forensic team has taken videos and photos of the crime scene,” he said.
Police have lodged an FIR under IPC sections 376D (gangrape), 306 (abetment of suicide), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult to provoke someone), and the POCSO and IT Act sections.
ACP (Ghatampur) Ranjeet Kumar told ThePrint they are waiting for the postmortem reports. “The girls were found hanging from a tree near the brick kiln. The family has alleged they were gangraped, but have not mentioned where. Much hearsay is doing the rounds, but the postmortem reports will be a stepping stone in our investigation. We are waiting for the reports and need to hold our horses till then,” he said.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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