Family of Unnao girls demands CBI probe
Role of insiders being looked into, two of six people in custody for questioning are brothers of the girls
A day after three teenage girls, all cousins, were found unconscious in a field in Unnao district on Wednesday and two of them died on way to hospital, their family members have demanded a CBI inquiry into the deaths.
The police investigation is largely focused on the insider theory and two of the six people in custody are the brothers of the girls. The four others are from an adjoining village, who visited the field next to the one in which the girls were found late on Wednesday night. All of them were being questioned at different places, said police officers who were aware of the developments.
The police decision to question them came even as the family members and the villagers in the morning resorted to protest at the village entrance in large numbers.
Seeking a CBI inquiry into the deaths, the family members alleged the girls were murdered and their relatives were being harassed.
They sought release of the two brothers from police custody. But senior police officers at the site, including inspector general of police (Lucknow) Laxmi Singh, pacified the villagers on the ground that questioning was necessary to solve the case. Police officers privy to the investigation said one of the brothers was being questioned because he was one of two people who first found the body. The other brother was taken into custody following an adverse reaction from the father of one of girls after he saw him at the hospital in Unnao.
In his early 30s, this relative drives a truck and hasn’t been able to explain a period of four hours of his absence.
Another reason to pursue the insider theory was a contradiction between the statements of the family members. Two of them said that a dupatta (scarf) was tied around the necks of each of the girls, while the mothers of two girls contradicted this.
One of the mothers said when she reached the spot, the bodies were piled on each other and froth was oozing out of the girls’ mouths. They were first taken to a local private hospital in Kalukhera, 15 km away, but the doctors referred the girls to the community health centre in Asoha, she said. Another mother said all that she knew was the girls were found unconscious and were taken to hospital.
The family members of the girls, related to three brothers, have repeatedly told the police that they have no enmity with anyone in the village. “We have not found any sign of a struggle in the field; rape is not a possibility. So, in such a situation, many people from the family and others were being questioned to get a clear picture,” said two officials, adding that the crime scene has been screened more than seven times by forensic experts.
Murder case registered after 20 hours
A case of murder was registered with the Asoha police in Unnao, about 20 hours after three girls were found unconscious in a mustard field late Wednesday night. The case was lodged against unidentified persons under Section 302 (murder) and 201 (concealment of the evidence) of the Indian Penal Code, said the Unnao police. The complainant in the case is the father of one of the girls.
Unnao admin to bear medical expenses
The Unnao district administration would bear the expenses on the treatment of the girl admitted in Kanpur after there were reports that the family members were pooling in money. District magistrate Ravindra Kumar wrote a letter to the hospital management that the entire cost would be borne by the administration. In the morning, the political parties slammed the state government after reports that the family members were raising money for the treatment of the girls. Kumar said the best medical care was being provided to the victim at the hospital and his team of officials was at the hospital to coordinate.