Three minor Dalit girls were found in an unconscious state in Unnao's Baburaha village in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday. Two of them were declared brought dead at the district hospital while the third was referred to a private hospital in Kanpur in a critical condition. The girls, aged 13, 16 and 17, were found in their field on Wednesday night.
The police said that the three girls had gone to their fields to cut grass and bring fodder for their cattle on Wednesday afternoon but did not return till late in the night. Locals then searched for the girls and found them in the field. They informed the police and rushed the girls to a hospital, where two of them were declared brought dead while one was taken to another hospital for treatment, they said.
The family of the girls said that the hands and feet of the girls were tied with their dupatta and they were frothing at the mouth, indicating that they had been given poison. The brother of the 16-year-old girl, in his statement to the police, said, "I spotted my sister along with my two other cousins with their hands and legs tied."
Unnao Superintendent of Police Anand Kulkarni, told reporters that the three girls are cousins. "A white substance was oozing out of their mouths, and was visible, when the police teams reached there," he said.
The two bodies have been sent for post mortem. Family members meanwhile, have alleged murder. "Why would the girls tie their own hands and feet? It is a clear case of murder," said a family member.
Samajwadi Party Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Sunil Singh Sajan, meanwhile, alleged that the Unnao police was trying to hush up the case. He has sought a probe by an independent agency in the matter.
"The incident proves that our daughters are not safe in this regime. Unnao, in the past three years, has witnessed a spate of similar incidents which is a matter of concern," he said.
Further investigation is underway, police said. Unnao had earlier been in the spotlight after a young woman had accused former BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar of raping her in 2017, when she was 17-years old.
In December 2019, a Delhi court sentenced the expelled BJP MLA to life imprisonment and also ordered him to pay a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the victim.
With IANS and PTI inputs