Three minors – two girls and a boy – were found hanging from a tree in Barmer district, Rajasthan, on Friday, 13 April.
According to The Indian Express, while no clear motive behind the deaths has been ascertained as of now, suicide was not being ruled out as a possibility. Villagers were quoted as saying that the two girls were reportedly in “some kind of a relationship” with the boy.
The father of one of the girls, 41-year-old Bhairu Meghwal, however, told The Indian Express tat he suspects the boy was somehow responsible for the death of his daughter.
According to Meghwal, the boy was bad company and he had even called a panchayat meeting last year to protest against the him constantly prowling around his house, reported The Indian Express.
My daughter and niece were sleeping with us in our house on Thursday night. We woke up after midnight to find that they were missing; their bodies were found on Friday morning. We are certain that they were kidnapped, and then raped and murdered.Bhairu Meghwal, victim’s father, to The Indian Express
He did not, however, mention how the girls were forcibly taken from the house when other relatives were sleeping nearby. According to IE, Another member of his family said that certain members of the Muslim community had reportedly “threatened them” the day before the incident.
Meghwal denied any kind of relationship between his daughter and niece and the boy.
The minor boy’s father, Kesham Khan, told The Indian Express that he believes his son had committed suicide.
I don’t know why he did this as he wouldn’t come home regularly. But there’s no doubt about the fact that he committed suicide.Kesham Khan to The Indian Express
Some villagers had claimed to have seen four footprints leading up to the tree, alleging that a fourth person was present at the scene of the crime. They reportedly pointed fingers at a friend of the boy; however, the former’s brother denied any involvement.
The police, however, told The Indian Express that they had not seen a fourth set of footprints. Barmer Superintendent of Police Gagandeep Singla said that as per preliminary investigation, the trio seems to have committed suicide.
Many villagers told us during investigation that the two girls were in a relationship with the boy. The postmortem report and other medical reports also suggest that they committed suicide.Officer Gagandeep Singla to The Indian Express
However, he added that it was difficult to believe that such a “horrific incident” was just a case of suicide. A case under Section 174 CrPC (unnatural death) has been registered.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
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