Malda, May 8: A 14-year-old girl who was found hanging from a mango tree in a Malda village eight days ago was gang-raped and murdered, the post-mortem report has revealed.

Police today arrested Srinath Tudu, 21, and Lakhindranath Hansda, from the village in Habibpur where the victim also lived.

Malda police chief Satyajit Bandyopadhyay said the girl was last seen with Srinath and Lakhindranath. “The two youths have been remanded in police custody and will be interrogated later.”

Bandyopadhyay added that on the evening of April 30, the victim had gone to attend a wedding dance in her village. The girl, who lived with her aunt, did not return. Villagers found her body the next day.

“Lakhindranath was known to pass lewd comments at the girl and we are sure that he will own up to the crime. We believe that more men were involved in it,” Bandyopadhyay said.

Although no one had lodged a complaint, the police had started the case suo motu.