Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday visited the family members of the two girls, who were found hanging from a tree at a village in Kokrajhar district, and assured to find the truth behind the shocking incident.
After spending time with the family at the village, Sarma said the government is not taking the death of the two girls from an indigenous community lightly.
“Yesterday, I got the news of the shocking death of two girls from the Rabha community. The family says that there was no reason for them to die by suicide. So, there is a mystery,” he told reporters here.
Sarma said he personally did on-ground inspection and held discussions with the Bodoland Territorial Area IGP and Kokrajhar SP about the case.
“We have some doubts on a few people and have picked up four-five persons for interrogation. Of them, two deleted all messages and photos from their phones but they used to talk for one to one-and-half hours with the girls.
“Prima facie the case hints at murder as well as suicide under duress. If it is murder, then we will find the culprits and punish them. If it is suicide, then we will find the reason behind such a step. I have instructed the police,” he said.
The chief minister also said that many indigenous people in lower Assam districts like Kokrajhar and Dhubri are “threatened”, but he did not elaborate.
“We are not taking the deaths of the two indigenous girls lightly. That is why I have come here. I want to give one message from here that this government will not accept any torture on the poor and downtrodden people,” he said.
The incident took place inside a forest, where the bodies of the two siblings were found hanging from a tree on Friday evening.
The incident sent a shockwave across the district with the family alleging that they were raped, then killed and hanged from the tree to make it look like suicide.
A senior police official said: “The preliminary investigation indicates suicide. We will be able to tell exactly after receiving the detailed post mortem report.”
Locals said that the two sisters were missing from their residence since Friday afternoon. PTI
