Bhandara rape case: Culprits should be hanged in public, says mother of the three victims

Bhandara: A week after the gruesome rape and murders of three sisters in Bhandara district in Maharashtra, no arrests have been made yet. The mother of the three girls wants the culprits to be hanged in public. "I think the men who did this should be found at the earliest and hanged in public," she said speaking to CNN-IBN.

She also said her daughters could have been saved had the police acted. "The first day when we filed the complaint, the police didn't act on it. Had they looked for the girls, my girls would have been found. This is nothing but negligence," she said. Talking about the compensation, she said, "No amount of money is going to bring my girls back."

Three suspects are being questioned, but tension continued in the village as locals protested against police apathy of initially terming the case as an accident. State Home Minister RR Patil is likely to visit the mother of the deceased girls on Thursday.

Three sisters, all minors were allegedly raped and murdered in Maharashtra's Bhandara district and their bodies were dumped in a well after they went missing from their school on February 14. Their inconsolable mother has accused the police of a lethargic probe.

Preliminary post-mortem report has confirmed that the girls were raped before being murdered. Enraged villagers demanding a swift probe blocked the National Highway 6 for over 4 hours on Wednesday, while a bandh was called in the district. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has announced a compensation of Rs 10 Lakh and senior police officials have been rushed in to oversee the investigation.

CNN-IBN asks:

- Why did the police delay registering the FIR of the girls going missing on February 14?

- Why was an attempt made to term it an accident even after discovering the girls' bodies on February 16?

- Could swift police action have prevented this shocking rape and murder of the three minors?