The bodies of two Dalit girls aged 15 and 18 were found hanging from a tree by two dupattas tied together in Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday morning.

Babli Jatav, 18, and Shashi Jatav, 15, were missing after they went to a local temple on Monday night to celebrate Janmashtami. Sanjay Kumar, the additional superintendent of police, said: “Prima facie it looks like a case of suicide. But we don't know the reason yet. An inquiry is going on. Their post-mortem report may throw some light on the incident.”

Babli's father Ramvir Jatav, a labourer in Bhagautipur village in the district, said: “They had gone to the temple, about 250m from my house, to celebrate the festival at 7.30pm. They returned around 9pm, changed their dresses to attend the jhanki (procession) and went there again.

"When they didn’t return, we thought they were staying the night at their bua’s (aunt) house. A woman from our village told us in the morning that someone was found hanging from a tree in the mango orchard. We went there and saw they were our daughters,” the father said.

“They were hanging about 10 feet above the ground. How did they get there? It is a case of murder for some reason but the police are trying to simplify the case by calling it suicide,” he added.

Shashi's father Mahendra Jatav alias Pappu said: “We didn’t search for them in the night because they often stayed back at the house of Ramvir’s sister, who lives near the temple, where the celebration was going on. The police are interrogating us as if we are criminals. Is this how they are going to solve the case?”

He said the girls were hanging from a mango tree, which has weak branches.

“Climbing the tree to reach the place from where they were hanging was not possible in the night. There must have been someone else and something like a ladder or a table to stand at a height to hang something from the branch and then tie both sides of the dupatta to the girls,” he said.

Alok Priyadarshi, the superintendent of police of Farrukhabad, said: “We have found a mobile phone and the slippers of the girls. We have also found a SIM card in the pocket of one of the girls..."