Bodies of missing Mumbai sisters sent for postmortem after being found dead in Bhaktapur

The bodies of two teenage sisters found dead in Bhaktapur have been sent for postmortem.

The girls, Menuka Kandel (15) and Sirjana Kandel (13), were found hanging on Thursday morning in a house in Bode Sintitar, Madhyapur Thimi-8. The house belongs to Chakradhar Prajapati.

According to Kathmandu Police spokesperson DSP Dhundiraj Neupane, the bodies were sent to Kathmandu Medical College, Duwakot, for postmortem after their relatives arrived around 11 PM. The cause of death will be confirmed only after the postmortem.

The sisters were reportedly missing from Mira-Bhayander in Mumbai, India, for the past three weeks. Their parents, originally from Panchapuri Municipality-8 in Surkhet, said the girls had left a message saying they were going to Bangalore before going missing.

The sisters were found hanging with nylon ropes in the passage of their rented room on the ground floor of a two-storey house made of bricks and iron. The rope was tied to an iron rod, with both ends around their necks.

The parents have alleged that someone forced their daughters to work in a hotel in an area without CCTV cameras. Before hearing about their death, the parents had appeared on an online TV in India to search for them. In the interview aired on Shigas Online TV on July 21, they claimed the hotel owner was exploiting the girls.

Police say they were unaware of this information and are still investigating. According to sources, the girls had been staying in the house for about 15 days and had told the landlord they were college students.