2 minor Dalit girls found dead in field in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao, third girl in critical condition; murder case lodged

Three minor girls were found in the field in the evening by the villagers when they did not return after they left their house to bring fodder for the cattle, police said

Police lodged a case of murder after two minor Dalit sisters were found dead under suspicious circumstances inside a forested area under the Asoha police station in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district.

Another girl, who was the cousin of the deceased, was found lying in an unconscious state near their bodies and was rushed to the hospital, where her condition was stated to be 'critical'.

While the police claimed that the sisters might have died after consuming some poisonous substance, the family members cried foul and demanded a CBI probe into the incident.

The father of the deceased lodged a complaint with the police alleging that their hands were tied and their 'dupattas' (scarf) were around their necks.

Read: UP DGP says postmortem inconclusive on cause of death of Unnao Dalit girls, viscera test to be done

The post-mortem reports of the deceased revealed some poisonous substance in their stomach but the doctors were not able to state what kind of poison it was.

Chaotic scenes were witnessed at their village after the police allegedly forcibly took their father, who was staging a protest demanding a CBI probe, with them. The family members said they did not feel safe in the village.

Police sources said that the three girls aged 13, 16 and 17, had gone to the forests near their village under the Asoha police station on Wednesday evening to bring green fodder for the cattle. The family members launched a search for them after they did not return till late in the evening.

Read: Give protection to Unnao survivor, admit her to AIIMS Delhi immediately, demands Bhim Army Chief Chandra Shekhar Azad

Sources said that all of them were found lying in an unconscious state near a tree a little later. They were rushed to the nearby primary health centre, where two of them, aged 13 and 16, were declared brought dead. The third sister is battling for her life in the hospital.

Security personnel have been deployed at the village of the victims and the family members are said to not allowed to come out of their house. The entry of the media was also banned.

"It is a shocking incident... There are reports that the family of the victims has been locked up in their house... The government should immediately shift the third girl to AIIMS in Delhi," Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said in a post on Twitter.

Read: UP govt crushing honour of women: Priyanka Gandhi

Samajwadi Party (SP) spokesman Sunil Singh Sajan said that the incident had proved that 'jungle raj' prevailed in the state.

''The state government is trying to hush up the matter,'' Sajan alleged.

Bhim Army President and Dalit leader Chandra Shekhar Azad said that atrocities on the Dalits have increased in the state under the present dispensation.