While a previous autopsy report confirmed that two Dalit girls aged 12 and 14 were raped and strangled until they died on May 28 at the Baduan District in Uttar Pradesh, India, the country's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) issued its report on Thursday that the two female cousins were in a suicide pact.

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The CBI cited 40 scientific reports and over 200 people as the basis for its conclusion that it was not rape, but suicide, because the girls allegedly feared their families would not like their developing friendship with a 19-year-old male from their community who belongs to another caste or social class.

However, the father of one of the victims belied the CBI finding.

"It's not a suicide. They were raped and murdered," he told The Wall Street Journal. "We are not telling lies."

The CBI arrested the 19-year-old man who allegedly was in a relationship with the 14-year-old girl. The man and his two brothers met the cousins on May 28 and the pair agreed to have consensual sex but before they could do it, a relative of the girl came and stopped them, prompting the two girls to run away, the CBI said.

The CBI blamed the girls' relative for making a false statement, which he allegedly admitted, that the brothers sexually molested and killed the cousins. The uncle's version is that he saw three men drag the girls and he tried to stop a fourth man, but the latter pointed a gun at him which caused the uncle, who was a next-door neighbor of the victims, to flee.

The relative said the two went out at night just to relieve themselves on the field when a group of men forced the girls to have sex and then killed them.

CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad said the agency would file the report on Friday which would pave the way for the release of the five accused who are in jail.

When the incident broke out on media, the crime was described as horrendous, barbaric and gruesome, while political parties and women's group condemned the act.

DNA India pointed out that the UP police was lax in arresting the five men due to their political influence since four of them have the surname Yadav, which is the ruling family in the Indian state.

The family rejected the CBI report and said they would elevate the case, which has attracted international outrage, to the Supreme Court and seek real justice from Prime Minister Narenda Modi.

"Our girls cannot commit suicide. The CBI inquiry is a sham," DNA India quotes the father of one of the victims. "If justice is not done, we will commit suicide."

TagsRape, mango tree, suicide pact, hanged, caste system