CBI officials seen in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh.
The Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI will not file a chargesheet just yet against the five men accused of gang-raping and murdering two teen cousins in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh three months ago. This means that their appeal for bail will not be opposed.
The men were arrested in May soon after the young girls, aged 14 and 15, were found hanging from a tree in their village, leading to national outrage. The accused will have been in custody for 90 days at the end of this, the maximum time that a person can be held in custody without being charged.
CBI sources however emphasised that the agency's decision not to file a chargesheet at this stage did not mean a clean chit for anyone in the case.
Last week, forensic tests ruled out sexual assault in the case. Sources in the CBI said the tests were done in the reputed Hyderabad-based Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics.
A Preliminary Report from a medical board has also now confirmed that it was "highly unlikely" that the girls were raped.
The results, an official said, seemed to bring the needle of suspicion on the girls' families and investigators are not ruling out the honour killing angle.
The families have said that they will hang themselves from the same tree if "justice is not done in the case."
They alleged that the accused had admitted to the crime in front of the villagers. They also alleged that the police refused to help when the girls went missing because they wanted to protect the suspects who belong to the Yadavs, a higher caste.
Local police officers had suggested that it was a case of honour killing.
The five men accused in the case - three from a family and two local constables - had earlier cleared a lie detector test.