Seven men arrested, 2 are police constables.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW DELHI: The bodies of two teenage Dalit cousins were found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh, victims of a vicious gang-rape in the Katra village of UP’s Badaun district.
The two girls, whose names have not been released to the media, were just 14 and 15 years old when they were killed earlier this week. Their corpses were found on Wednesday morning, with evidence indicating that they may have been raped by as many as five men.
Although police have begun to apprehend the perpetrators, the local community is incensed at the violence against its young girls. It was only through the efforts of local villagers that a case was even filed with the police; villagers discovered the hanging bodies, and set up road blocks in the village until the police came and investigated.
The Dalit community, often known as “untouchable” in other parts of the world, is often looked down upon in certain parts of India. For this reason, locals have blamed the police for overlooking crimes that have targeted members of the Dalit community, even when they’re as heinous as this.
Protests have occurred in the Badaun district, along with other parts of UP, and the National Commission of Women has also taken up the girls’ cause, describing the crime as “gruesome.”
Police have so far arrested seven men in connection to the crime, two of whom are police constables – Sarvesh Yadav and Rakshapal Yadav. It is not known if the two men are related, but an FIR was filed against them and they are currently in police custody; they have been suspended for the time being.
Sexual assault and rape against India has hit a fever pitch over the last year, in terms of its exposure in international media. Ever since the brutal December 2012 rape and murder of a young woman on a New Delhi bus, India has also tightened its rape laws. But despite this, many instances of rape and assault go unreported in India, largely due to cultural and religious stigmas.
Police are analyzing DNA samples from the girls’ bodies to help find any other men who were complicit in, or had knowledge of, the rapes and murders. The investigation is still ongoing.