A youth and a minor girl were found hanging from the branch of a tree at Samtanagar under Mango police station area on Tuesday morning, sparking sensation in the area.

The deceased were identified as schoolgirl Riya Paswan, 17, and college student Binod Yadav, 20, both residents of Samtanagar and immediate neighbours.

The bodies were found hanging barely 150 metres away from the houses of the duo around 5am.

Though initially the police said it was a case of suicide, they maintained that the investigation was on and that the murder angle also could not be ruled out.

Mango police station officer-in-charge Mithilesh Kumar said they brought down the bodies from the tree and sent them to the MGM Medical College mortuary for their post-mortem.

The policeman told The Telegraph that both the deceased were neighbours and reportedly loved each other.

“They may have killed themselves over objection from their respective family members. But we are also talking to the family members of both to ascertain if this is a case of honour killing,” the OC added.

Riya and Binod belonged to different castes, which is why their families were very angry with their closeness, a neighbour said.

“Riya’s brother had spotted her with Binod somewhere in Mango a couple of months ago and was furious,” he said.

“He restricted her movements and kept tabs on his sister. But Riya and Binod apparently kept in touch over phones. We have heard that on Tuesday around 3am, Riya and Binod came out of their houses. Around 5am their bodies were found hanging from the tree.”