A tragic incident in Tripura immediately brings to mind images of the two girls in the Uttar Pradesh village of Badaun who were hung from a tree in May. On Friday, two tribal girls from the north eastern state were found deep in a forest in Ganya Mara gram sabha, their faces were almost touching as if whispering secrets to each other. Class X students at a boarding school in Takarjala, 27 km from Agartala, the fast friends had not left a note explaining their action.
The state police have been unable to say if this is a double suicide or murder. What they can say is that the nooses were made by tearing one girl's shirt and tying the strips together. Why a 16-year-old girl would hang herself topless is something no one can seem to answer. Both were wearing jeans when the bodies were found. The police are investigating whether the girls had been sexually assaulted but have refused to divulge details until the postmortem reports are available.
The girls' mothers insist that their daughters were murdered. They point out that the girls were last seen in the company of two boys. They assert that both were healthy. They ask why girls in the prime of their lives would want to kill themselves.
Parents are angry
Biswa Lakkhi Debbarma was among the first to spot her 16-year-old daughter hanging from a kaya tree alongside her classmate, 3 km from her house. The parents of the girls had been searching for them since Thursday evening, when school authorities informed them that the teenagers had gone missing.
By Sunday, Debbarma's voice had turned hoarse from talking so much, powered by grief and anger. “I can't be quiet anymore,” she said. “Not till the culprits have been caught.”
The police says that two days before they died, the girls had been reprimanded by the warden of their hostel for having mobile phones, despite rules forbidding this. “This may have driven the girls to take this extreme step,” said a police official.
The hostel in question is located next to a big field in Takarjala that serves as a football ground. Most evenings, local women sit there and chat in the evening breeze, since frequent power cuts make it too hot to stay indoors.
On Thursday, the girls slipped out of the iron gates of the hostel in the company of a classmate, Laisa Debbarma, to have a day out on the town.
They slipped out of the hostel at noon without informing the authorities. The three girls took a bus to Bishramganj, one of the biggest markets of Tripura, to enjoy the “bazaar din” or weekly market. One of the girls reportedly bought some perfume. They then took a shared cab to Duharam, near the village where one girl lived. Two boys reportedly joined them. Laisa says the boys, who she had never seen before were the two girls’ boyfriends.
The group of five walked a few kilometres towards the village, a hamlet of mud and tin-roofed houses that looks like an island amidst a sea of rubber plantations. It was a full moon night and the five decided to spend the night there. Early the next morning, the boys bade them goodbye and rode away on their bicycles.
Looking for privacy
The three girls made their way towards the main road to catch a bus, with a view to returning to the hostel. At this point, the two girls told Laisa that they needed to relieve themselves. It was dawn and the rubber plantation workers had already started filtering in, leaving no privacy. The two decided to walk to the forest on the borders of the farm to avoid prying eyes. They asked Laisa to wait for them at the edge of the plantation.
Half an hour later, when the girls had not returned, Laisa went to look for them. Unable to trace them, she walked back to the main road and boarded a bus to her hostel, where the anxious parents were awaiting their return. After they questioned her, she took them back to the plantation, where the families discovered the bodies.
Thin as a reed with long black hair, her eyes were puffed and shoulders bent. Laisa has been detained in the hostel since the incident for her own safety, and so that she can readily help the police with the investigation. Laisa was too terrified to sleep. The warden said she hasn't been eating.
Laisa said she didn't believe the girls had committed suicide. “They weren't carrying any ropes," she said. "They were so happy and in love on Friday. The only time they looked crestfallen was when the boys said their goodbyes.”
Laisa said that she does not remember the names of the boys.
No arrests
No arrests have been made at the time of writing. A police official noted that while it seemed unlikely that a teenage girl would strip to commit suicide, no external injuries have been noticed on the bodies. This reduces the possibility of foul play.
The families of both girls insist that there was an injury mark on the head of one of the girls, but the claim could not be verified. The families have urged the police to find the boys who were with their daughters on Thursday and Friday.
“We were informed by the school at 7 pm on Thursday that the girls were missing,” said Rajani Debbarma, the father of one girl. “We searched for them all night. What does time matter for parents when their kids are missing? I wish the authorities had informed us earlier. Maybe then the girls would still have been alive.”
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The state police have been unable to say if this is a double suicide or murder. What they can say is that the nooses were made by tearing one girl's shirt and tying the strips together. Why a 16-year-old girl would hang herself topless is something no one can seem to answer. Both were wearing jeans when the bodies were found. The police are investigating whether the girls had been sexually assaulted but have refused to divulge details until the postmortem reports are available.
The girls' mothers insist that their daughters were murdered. They point out that the girls were last seen in the company of two boys. They assert that both were healthy. They ask why girls in the prime of their lives would want to kill themselves.
Parents are angry
Biswa Lakkhi Debbarma was among the first to spot her 16-year-old daughter hanging from a kaya tree alongside her classmate, 3 km from her house. The parents of the girls had been searching for them since Thursday evening, when school authorities informed them that the teenagers had gone missing.
By Sunday, Debbarma's voice had turned hoarse from talking so much, powered by grief and anger. “I can't be quiet anymore,” she said. “Not till the culprits have been caught.”
The police says that two days before they died, the girls had been reprimanded by the warden of their hostel for having mobile phones, despite rules forbidding this. “This may have driven the girls to take this extreme step,” said a police official.
The hostel in question is located next to a big field in Takarjala that serves as a football ground. Most evenings, local women sit there and chat in the evening breeze, since frequent power cuts make it too hot to stay indoors.
On Thursday, the girls slipped out of the iron gates of the hostel in the company of a classmate, Laisa Debbarma, to have a day out on the town.
They slipped out of the hostel at noon without informing the authorities. The three girls took a bus to Bishramganj, one of the biggest markets of Tripura, to enjoy the “bazaar din” or weekly market. One of the girls reportedly bought some perfume. They then took a shared cab to Duharam, near the village where one girl lived. Two boys reportedly joined them. Laisa says the boys, who she had never seen before were the two girls’ boyfriends.
The group of five walked a few kilometres towards the village, a hamlet of mud and tin-roofed houses that looks like an island amidst a sea of rubber plantations. It was a full moon night and the five decided to spend the night there. Early the next morning, the boys bade them goodbye and rode away on their bicycles.
Looking for privacy
The three girls made their way towards the main road to catch a bus, with a view to returning to the hostel. At this point, the two girls told Laisa that they needed to relieve themselves. It was dawn and the rubber plantation workers had already started filtering in, leaving no privacy. The two decided to walk to the forest on the borders of the farm to avoid prying eyes. They asked Laisa to wait for them at the edge of the plantation.
Half an hour later, when the girls had not returned, Laisa went to look for them. Unable to trace them, she walked back to the main road and boarded a bus to her hostel, where the anxious parents were awaiting their return. After they questioned her, she took them back to the plantation, where the families discovered the bodies.
Thin as a reed with long black hair, her eyes were puffed and shoulders bent. Laisa has been detained in the hostel since the incident for her own safety, and so that she can readily help the police with the investigation. Laisa was too terrified to sleep. The warden said she hasn't been eating.
Laisa said she didn't believe the girls had committed suicide. “They weren't carrying any ropes," she said. "They were so happy and in love on Friday. The only time they looked crestfallen was when the boys said their goodbyes.”
Laisa said that she does not remember the names of the boys.
No arrests
No arrests have been made at the time of writing. A police official noted that while it seemed unlikely that a teenage girl would strip to commit suicide, no external injuries have been noticed on the bodies. This reduces the possibility of foul play.
The families of both girls insist that there was an injury mark on the head of one of the girls, but the claim could not be verified. The families have urged the police to find the boys who were with their daughters on Thursday and Friday.
“We were informed by the school at 7 pm on Thursday that the girls were missing,” said Rajani Debbarma, the father of one girl. “We searched for them all night. What does time matter for parents when their kids are missing? I wish the authorities had informed us earlier. Maybe then the girls would still have been alive.”