Two gang-rape, molestation victims kill themselves in UP

Amid the outrage over alleged gang-rape and brutal murder of a woman in Hathras, two teens - one a gang-rape victim and the other a victim of molestation-allegedly killed themselves in different parts of Uttar Pradesh.

A 15-year-old girl, resident of Chitrakoot district, about 350 kilometres from Lucknow, who had allegedly been gangraped by three youths of her village last week, died by suicide in her house, on Tuesday.

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The minor, who hailed from a Scheduled Caste (SC) community, hanged herself using her 'dupatta', police sources in the state's capital said.

The mother of the first victim said that three youths of the village had kidnapped the victim and had gang-raped her after taking her to the nearby forested area. The family did not lodge a police complaint fearing social humiliation.

''My daughter had stopped speaking after the incident,'' the distraught mother told the cops. Two cops, including the in-charge of the local police station, were suspended for laxity, sources said.

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In another incident, a 17-year-old alleged victim of molestation killed herself by jumping into a well in UP's Pratapgarh district, about 200 kilometres from Lucknow, on Tuesday.

The father of the teen said that some youths from the village used to stalk her on the way to her college and passed lewd comments at her. ''We had complained to their parents....we did not approach the cops fearing loss of family reputation....it had been going on for the past six months,'' he said.

Police said that a case was lodged and a hunt was launched to nab the culprits.