Girls found hanged from tree in India 'were NOT raped' and 'committed suicide'

TWO girls who were found hanged from a tree in India – sparking widespread protests - were NOT raped and had actually committed suicide, India's FBI has claimed.

SIMON DE-TREY WHITE/EYEVINE

The CBI says the girls were not raped and actually committed suicide

Local police initially said that the girls, from the village of Katra in Uttar Pradesh state, had been gang-raped and murdered, when they were found six month ago.
Five men were arrested and later released on bail accused of the crime.
But now India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that this was not the case.
Kanchan Prasad, a spokeswoman for the Bureau, said that the probe by local police and post-mortem reports were incorrect, and five innocent men were arrested.
The federal agency took over the probe following widespread public outrage over the deaths of the two cousins, who were about 14 years of age.
Ms Prasad said: "The CBI has come to the conclusion that the allegations of sexual assault and murder were false. It was a case of suicide."
The Bureau claimed that the older of the girls had a relationship with one of the suspects, which she hid from her family.

Ms Prasad said that the night of the girls' death, the younger girl had called her cousin's boyfriend and suggested they go to a local fair. 
The three left their homes after dinner and later the older girl and her boyfriend were caught by one of her relatives as they were about to have sex in a nearby field, she said.
She claimed that the girls apparently committed suicide because they were afraid of their families reaction and the social stigma they would face.
Ms Prasad said medical reports ruled out any sexual assault, and the parents of the girls had filed a false police report of rape and murder.

The scene of the deaths in Uttar Pradesh

She said: "There were no marks of violence or injuries on the bodies of the two girls, except for the ligature marks on their necks. 
"Also, nobody heard any cries for help though there were houses around the spot where the bodies were found hanging."
She added that the CBI will hand over its findings to a court, which will decide whether to prosecute the families of the girls for filing a false police complaint.
India has a long history of tolerance for sexual violence, but the attack on the girls caused outrage across India.
Protests reminiscent of the reaction to the December 2012 fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman aboard a moving bus in New Delhi, India's capital, took place across the country.
Then nationwide outcry following that attack led the federal government to rush legislation doubling prison terms for rapists to 20 years and criminalising voyeurism, stalking and the trafficking of women. 
The law also made it a crime for officers to refuse to open cases when complaints are made.