Hanged Cousins Were Not Raped: Inquiry

Two teenage girls believed to have been raped and hanged by their attackers in a north Indian village committed suicide because of shame over a relationship with a boyfriend, according to the country's top investigative agency.

An earlier investigation by local police and post-mortem reports were wrong, leading to five innocent men being arrested, said Kanchan Prasad, a spokeswoman for the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Images of the girls' bodies hanging from a mango tree in the village of Katra in Uttar Pradesh shocked the country and the world.

Local police said the two cousins, who were about 14, were gang-raped and murdered. Five men were arrested and then released on bail.

The CBI took over the investigation following public outrage over the deaths of the girls.

"The CBI has come to the conclusion that the allegations of sexual assault and murder were false. It was a case of suicide," Ms Prasad said.

She added that medical reports ruled out any sexual assaults, and the girls' parents had submitted a false police report of rape and murder.

"There were no marks of violence or injuries on the bodies of the two girls, except for the ligature marks on their necks," Ms Prasad said.

"Also, nobody heard any cries for help though there were houses around the spot where the bodies were found hanging."

The older of the two girls had a relationship with one of the suspects which she kept from her family, Ms Prasad continued.

The night they died, the younger girl called her cousin's boyfriend and suggested they went to a local fair. The three went there after dinner, Ms Prasad said.

Later the older girl and her boyfriend were caught by a relative as they were about to have sex in a nearby field, she said.

The spokeswoman said the girls apparently killed themselves because they were afraid of the reaction of their families and the stigma attached to what they had done.

Indian villages are extremely conservative and what had happened would have been difficult for the family to bear.

The CBI's findings will be passed to a court, which will decide whether or not to prosecute the families of the girls over the filing of the complaint.

But the Aam Admi Party rejected the suicide theory, saying in a statement: "It seems humanly impossible for two girls to hang themselves or the CBI is not sharing the full facts.

"Badaun seems to be a convenient cover-up to avoid international shame and acceptance of the dismal law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh."

Violence against women has become a major issue in India.

Activists say the victims are often females from poor and marginalised communities, with many crimes unreported or not properly investigated.

Four of the suspects were from the Yadav community, a land-owning Hindu caste that holds political sway in Uttar Pradesh.

The victims were Shakyas, a lowly caste who are traditionally peasant farmers.