2 girls die by suicide after molestation, rape by four schoolmates in Pratapgarh

UDAIPUR: Two minor girls studying in Class XII committed suicide by consuming poison after allegedly being molested and raped by four of their schoolmates in Pratapgarh district early Saturday morning.
Three of the accused, including a minor, were detained soon after the deaths, and police were investigating the role of the fourth accused.
The two girls, one aged 16 and the other six months older, were cousins and studied at a government school under Pipalkhunt police station of the district, said police.They consumed poison at their home at Nalpada village under Ghantali police station of the district.
The father of the elder girl had lodged an FIR against three of the four schoolmates on Wednesday, accusing them of molestation and intimidation of the two girls, said police.
"Earlier that day, the four schoolmates had called the two girls for a meeting at the school to sort out their misunderstandings, and they misbehaved with the girls and assaulted them, according to the FIR. The accused snatched the phone of one of the girls when she tried to report the incident to her family," said Pratapgarh SP Amit Budaniya. Acting on the complaint, police carried out searches, he added.
The two girls used to stay in a rented house owned by the brother of the prime accused, said the SP. "The accused were their schoolmates, and the girls had met them in the rented house. These four boys had been molesting the girls for a long time and harassing them on their way to the school. The parents and brother of the girls had made the girls vacate the rented house after finding out that the place was unsafe for them," he added.
The father added rape charges against the accused after the two girls committed suicide, said police. The four accused have been booked under IPC sections 354 (assault of or use of criminal force on women), 354-B (use of criminal force on woman, outraging her modesty, abetment of such act), 341 (wrongful restraint), 334 (voluntarily causing hurt on grave and sudden provocation), and 376 (rape).
The victims' bodies were sent to the district hospital for postmortem. "Allegations of molestation and intimidation were found to be true in the preliminary investigations. Allegations of rape can be confirmed only from the autopsy report. Further investigations are on," said the SP.
BJP state president and Chittorgarh MP CP Joshi blamed the two girls' suicide on police inaction and targeted the state government.