BackBadaun case: CBI files closure report, questions actions of girls’ relatives
CBI says no forensic or circumstantial evidence suggesting rape, murder as alleged in the FIR registered by UP police
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Badaun: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday filed a closure report in the death of two teenage cousins in Badaun in western Uttar Pradesh, ruling out murder and rape and concluding that it was a case of suicide.
The agency filed its report before Special Judge Anil Kumar in Badaun saying there was no forensic or circumstantial evidence suggesting rape and murder as alleged in the first information report (FIR) registered by the Uttar Pradesh Police after the bodies of the two girls were found hanging from a tree in May this year.
The matter has been listed for 6 January 2015, according to additional district government Counsel Rajiv Kumar.
The agency said the two girls had committed suicide fearing retribution as the affair of the elder girl with a local boy from different caste had come light.
The final report mentions questionable actions of the fathers of the girls, an uncle and main witness Nazru, also a distant relative, leaving it to the court to take further action, sources said.
The bodies of the two cousins, both around 14 years of age, were found hanging in an orchard on 28 May. The girls’ families had alleged that they were kidnapped and murdered by five youths from the village.
The incident sparked an outcry in the country and abroad with questions being raised over the law and order situation. Even United Nations secretary general Ban Ki Moon had expressed concern.
CBI said that there was no evidence of rape or murder as there was no sign of struggle on their clothes and bodies. The agency said forensic analysis also revealed that there was no male DNA or sperm on their bodies.
The agency closed the investigations with dropping of charges against five accused — Pappu, Awadhesh and Urvesh Yadav (brothers) and constables Chhatrapal Yadav and Sarvesh Yadav — named as prime accused by the state police for the alleged rape and murder of the girls.
They said a recommendation for probe against state police officers for botched up investigation will be made. The sources said the case will also be an example of how the system of post-mortem can be improved to help investigators arrive at correct conclusions.
The theory of rape and murder fell flat in view of the findings in forensic reports received from three-member medical board, Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, FSL, Gandhinagar among others.
“Based on around 40 scientific reports, CBI has concluded that the two minor girls in the Badaun case had not been raped and murdered as had been alleged in the FIR. Investigation has concluded that it is a case of suicide," CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad had said.
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