The Rajasthan Police on Monday refuted rape and murder allegations after three bodies were found hanging from a tree in Barmer district on April 12, reported DNA. A case of unnatural death has been registered.

The bodies of the three minors – two Dalit girls aged 12 and 13 years and a 17-year-old boy from a minority community – were spotted about a kilometre from Swaroop Ka Thala village. The girls were cousins.

The police believe it to be a case of suicide. “The postmortem report has arrived and it shows no signs of rape and indicates it to be suicide,” Barmer Superintendent of Police Gagandeep Singla told DNA. “The cause for suicide is being investigated.”

Neighbours too claimed it was suicide and said that the three were in a relationship that had gone wrong. The boy’s father also told NDTV that that it was a case of suicide.

However, the father of one of the girls said a murder case should be filed. “A year back, we had convened a panchayat meeting, where I had complained that he would often loiter around our houses,” the father told The Indian Express. “He was not a good boy, a few of his friends would often create a ruckus in the village.”