Budaun police say two girls were found Wednesday morning hanging from a tree after being gang raped.
The 14- and 15-year-old cousins went missing Tuesday night, and were found deceased, hanging from a mango tree in Katra Shahadatgani, Budaun. Autopsies confirmed that the girls were sexually assaulted.
Reuters reported that the girls were from a "low-caste Dalit community," a historically-marginalized group that still faces injustices in Indian society.
The unidentified teenagers, who had no toilet in their Katra village home, were walking to a field to use the bathroom when they disappeared.
Missing person reports by the families were not filed by Budaun police officers, and the families accused the police department of protecting the suspects.
Three police officers have been suspended for derelict of duty. Budaun Superintendent of Police Man Singh Chouhan told reporters that two constables were facing conspiracy charges as well.
Katra villagers were outraged at the police inaction, and initially refused to let authorities remove the hanging corpses from the tree until the assailants were captured. The villagers kept the bodies blockaded on Ushait-Lilawan Road before eventually letting police through.
Officer Man Singh Chauhan said that the police department is taking action against the crimes.
"We have registered a case. Five people have been accused, two of them are constables. We have made some arrests also," he told IBN Live.
According to the Asian Centre for Human Rights, between 2001 and 2011, there was an average of over 4,800 child rape cases in India per year. Girls in low-caste communities are often targeted, and the cases overlooked.
All India Democratic Women's Association Vice PresidentJ agmati Sangwan said that the likelihood of justice being served also diminishes when law enforcement officials are the perpetrators.
"It's not easy when the police are involved. The women organizations will raise their voice if the administration does not take proper action," she told IBN Live.
