LUCKNOW: Three girls aged 13, 16 and 17 were found unconscious in their field in a village in Unnao district on February 17, Wednesday evening.
According to the police, two of them were declared brought dead at the district hospital while the one aged 17 was hospitalised in a critical condition at a Kanpur hospital.
According to reports, the girls, belonging to Baburaha village, had gone to their fields to cut grass on Wednesday afternoon. After they failed to return in the evening, the family members went out to look for them and found them lying unconscious and tied up with dupattas in the field.
According to reports, the oldest girl is a relative of two other girls and the victims belong to the same family.
According to the police, doctors have said it to be a case of poisoning. Police said that some sort of froth was observed coming out of the girls' mouths, suggesting poisoning. The bodies of the two girls have been sent for post-mortem.
Anand Kulkarni, Superintendent of Police, Unnao said, "Prima facie they show symptoms of poisoning." The SP added that investigations into the matter have already begun. The SP also said there were no visible injury marks on bodies of the girls, and police are waiting for the post-mortem reports to determine their cause of death. SP Kulkarni added that the police have deployed six teams to investigate the case. They are also attempting to reconstruct the crime scene and interrogating the villagers.
The SP added that police team who reached the field first said the bodies were not found to be tied while hands and the legs also bore no impression of it.
IG Lucknow, Laxmi Singh, and senior police officers were also on the spot. The crime scene has been sealed for forensic experts. The sniffer dog squads have also been called to the spot.
Family members of the girls have alleged murder. A family member said, "Why would the girls tie their own hands and feet if they were committing suicide? It is a clear case of murder."
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MLC Sunil Singh Sajan has alleged that Unnao police was trying to bury the case. He has requested an independent agency to investigate the case.
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