Two teenage girls attempted suicide after being allegedly raped by their friends in West Bengal's Cooch Behar district, one of which died and another is struggling for life.
One of the victims hanged herself and died, while the other consumed pesticide and is fighting for life at the Mathabhanga sub-divisional hospital, police said on Monday.
The girls are students of Class 9.
Both the alleged culprits have been arrested.
The two girls, residents of Beldanga village in Cooch Behar's Mathabhanga, went out with two of their male friends for marquee hopping on the occasion of Kali Puja on Saturday.
"The two boys accompanying the girls allegedly dragged them to the bushes and raped them taking advantage of the darkness. Both are residents of the same village and knew the girls well," police said.
The father of the deceased girl alleged that both the boys were disturbing their girls from before. "They used to follow the girls on the way to school and private tuition," he said.
The two boys fled after the incident, but were nabbed on Monday evening.
"The accused in the case, Rudra Talukdar and Toton Sarkar, have been arrested and slapped with the charges of rape (IPC 376) and abetment of suicide (IPC 306)," said a senior officer from Mathabhanga police station.
(With IANS inputs)
