Indian police have confirmed that two teenage girls were found hanging from a tree in a northern village, after they were gang-raped by five men.
The girls, aged 14 and 15, were cousins. They went missing late on Tuesday after they were attacked in Katra village located in the Uttar Pradesh state.
Three men have been arrested following a complaint by a relative of the girls. The complaint was registered against five men for gang-rape, murder and child sexual abuse.
Atul Saxena, Budaun police chief, told AFP that a team of 50 officers was on the lookout for the other accused men, who he said were in their “late teens”.
Two officers have been removed from duty for not registering cases when the girls were initially reported missing.
Indian Express reports that two of the suspects in the case are police officers.
The horrific attack is the latest in a long line of sexual violence cases in India, despite the country tightening its anti-rape laws last year after nationwide protests.
Main image: New Delhi, MAY 11: Dalits women and people from different organisations shouting slogan during a protest against the rise of rape cases of Dalit women in Haryana, in front of residence of Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda at Pandit Pant Marg on May 11, 2014 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Arvind Yadav/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
