Kanpur: 2 minor girls found hanging, families allege gang rape
Two minor girls, aged 14 and 16, were found hanging from a tree near a brick kiln in Ghatampur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday night. The victims' families have accused the brick kiln contractor, his 18-year-old son, and 19-year-old nephew of gang rape and murder. The Kanpur Police has registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Protection Of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. All three have been arrested.
The victims were daughters of laborers
The girls were the daughters of two laborers employed at the brick kiln and lived with their families on-site. They had gone to the fields late Wednesday evening but never returned. Their bodies were later discovered hanging from a tree, 400 meters from the brick kiln. Reports said, they were gang-raped by the three accused days before they took the extreme step. According to NDTV, they were allegedly forced to drink liquor and then sexually assaulted.
Accused allegedly filmed act to blackmail victims
The accused also filmed the crime to blackmail the girls, the police said. Additional CP (law and order) Harish Chandra stated that videos and photos of the girls were found on the suspects' phones and will undergo forensic examination. "The accused had also made a video of the act to blackmail the girls due to which they took the extreme step," he said. The victims' bodies, meanwhile, have been sent for post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death.
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