Two girls, aged 15 and 18, were found hanging dead from a tree in Uttar Pradesh's Farrukhabad today. Family members have said the teenagers went to attend a Janmashtami programme last evening, but did not return. This morning, their bodies were found in a mango orchard.
Police have recovered a phone from the spot and also found a SIM card on one of the girls.
The father of one of the girls said they had gone to attend a programme at the nearly temple on the occasion of Janmashtami. "They went in the evening and returned around 9 pm because it had started raining. Later, in the night, they went again. The programme ended around 1 am. When they did not return, we started looking for them. A child said they slept at their aunt's place. We went there, but did not find them. Many of our relatives stay there, so we thought they must have slept there and will return in the morning."
In the morning, he said, one of their acquaintances informed that someone is hanging from a tree in the orchard. "Around 6 am, we reached here and found the girls hanging. We think someone killed them and hanged them bodies," he said.
Chilling visuals showed the girls hanging dead with two dupattas tied together.
District police chief Alok Priyadarshi said the two girls were close friends. "The autopsy will reveal details about the case. We have found a phone and a SIM card. We are using them to gather information and speaking to the family members. The matter will be investigated in detail and action taken," he said.
The bodies have been sent for autopsy and a forensic team collected evidence from the spot.
Akhilesh Yadav, leader of Uttar Pradesh's main Opposition Samajwadi Party, has demanded swift investigation and said such incidents create an environment of fear in the society.
Calling the incident sensitive, Mr Yadav said in a post on X, "The BJP government should immediately conduct a fair investigation and clear the air on this suspected case of murder. Such incidents create an atmosphere of fear in the society and deeply hurt the women community."
"The time to rise above politics and treat women's safety as a serious issue has come," the Lok Sabha MP added.
