Police Say no Injuries in Post-mortem Report in Unnao Deaths
One day later bodies of two Dalit girls, aged 13 and 16, were found in the family’s fields in the Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, along with a 17-year-old in serious condition, police said Thursday that the post-mortem report had found no injuries. and it was not conclusive. on the cause of death. The older girl, who remains in critical condition, is being treated for poisoning.
An FIR was filed on Thursday under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the IPC against unidentified persons, based on the family’s complaint.
Senior police officers said no evidence of sexual assault had been found and that they were investigating all angles, including the honor killing and suicide pact. An officer said they were examining why the family did not call the police when they discovered the girls.
The wheat fields where the three girls, who were cousins, were discovered Wednesday night, are about 800 meters from their homes. The families are day laborers and own less than 1 bigha each in the Brahmin-dominated village, with Dalits making up the smallest number per caste.
The 16-year-old’s mother told The Indian Express that the three had gone to forage as they did every day. “They did not return and around 6 in the afternoon we started looking for them.
They were found around 7 in the afternoon and we took them to a private doctor, who referred them to the Community Health Center (CHC). The girls’ hands were tied around their necks with a chunni when I saw them, ”said the 55-year-old mother, adding that they had not noticed anything strange about the girls recently.
From the CHC, the girls were transferred to the Unnao District Hospital, which referred them to a private hospital in Kanpur, where they were admitted: “around 11 pm.”
Unnao SP Sureshrao A Kulkarni said that the last rites for the two girls will take place on Friday morning. A police officer said the family wanted to wait for some relatives.
In a statement, DGP HC Awasthy of Uttar Pradesh said: “Information was received about two dead girls and one unconscious. Senior police officers arrived at the scene and found that the three had gone foraging. The families found them and took them to the CHC, where two of them were declared dead ”.
Awasthy said a panel of doctors had performed the autopsy. Their bodies were found to have no antemortem injuries. As for the cause of death, the report says that it could not be determined and the viscera have been preserved for chemical analysis ”.
CHC’s entry records show that two girls were brought in dead while the third was in a “gasping condition,” a doctor at the center told The Indian Express. “Records say the one who survived was foaming at the mouth and panting. No wound was found on her, ”said the doctor.
A health bulletin issued by the hospital where the 17-year-old is being treated said that “in the primary evaluation they found her in shock … a presumed case of poisoning.” His “condition remains critical but stable.”
SP Kulkarni said The Indian Express that if “the girls were tied up, some injuries would have been evidenced in the autopsy.” “Even in the complaint filed by the family, they only said that the chunni was around the neck, not that they were tied,” said the SP.
A high-ranking police officer who is part of the investigation team told The Indian Express that the autopsy had ruled out sexual assault or strangulation and found no injuries to the body or any organs. “A pungent-smelling substance was found in the stomach of the two girls … Doctors suspect it could be a poisonous substance,” the officer said.
The officer said it was a local who had called the police upon seeing the families taking the girls from the camps. “The family is not giving us clear information,” said the officer.
Inspector General (Lucknow Range) Laxmi Singh said they hope the 17-year-old will shed light on what happened. “We have spoken with the doctors and they are hopeful that he will recover.”
An uncle of the girls said he saw them when they were brought home from the fields. “When I saw them, their hands weren’t tied,” he said. The mother of the 13-year-old girl said that she had not seen the girls after they were found and therefore could not tell if they were tied up. “They were rushed to the hospital.”
The family said they had no enmity with anyone and did not suspect anyone. “We have no enemies,” said the mother.
While the 16-year-old’s mother accused police of taking four family members away, IG Laxmi Singh said they needed a relative to be present for the autopsy. “We have not detained anyone from the family,” he said.
Leaders of various parties, including the Bhim Army, former Minister Sudhir Rawat, MLC Sunil Singh Sajan, BSP MLA Anil Kumar Singh, and BJP MLA Brijesh Rawat, visited the village on Thursday.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called the incident tragic, tweeting: “DGP, UP has been instructed to submit a report … The girl is guaranteed to receive the best treatment without charge.”
BSP chief Mayawati demanded a high-level investigation. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said: “First, she was the daughter of Hathras, then the mother of Badaun and now the sisters of Unnao. No woman is safe in the BJP rule … ”
Congress Secretary-General Priyanka Gandhi said: “… the victim’s family has been detained, according to the news … The UP government is requested to listen to the whole family and transfer the third child to Delhi for treatment. ”
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