Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday visited the family of two minor girls found hanging from a tree in Kokrajhar district on the night of June 11.
He said the two sisters were either murdered or they ended their lives under duress.
“The two tribal girls died under mysterious circumstances. The police said it prima facie looks like a case of murder or suicide under duress,” he told journalists.
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“We want the police to find out both aspects of their death and why they died,” he said.
The bodies were found inside a forest in Abhayakuti village under Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) after the girls went missing on Friday afternoon and were sent to Civil Hospital in Kokrajhar for autopsy.
The police detained five persons for questioning. Dr. Sarma said two of them deleted their mobile records but the police had evidence that they spoke to the girls for more than an hour.
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The Chief Minister said he had a word with the Inspector General of Police of BTR and Kokrajhar district’s Superintendent of Police to take the probe to its logical end.
“The family members said there was no reason for them to commit suicide. If it is a case of murder, the murderers will be tracked down and punished,” he said.
The family of the two girls claimed they were raped before being murdered.
The Chief Minister said many families live under constant insecurity in western Assam.
“I came here to send across a message that this government will not tolerate any kind of torture of the poor and the downtrodden,” he added.