This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/police-officers-accused-as-lowcaste-teenage-girls-are-gangraped-and-hung-from-a-tree-in-india-9450875.html
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Police officers accused as low-caste teenage girls are 'gang-raped and hung from a tree' in India | Police officers accused as low-caste teenage girls are 'gang-raped and hung from a tree' in India |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Police are searching for a group of men accused of gang-raping and murdering two low-caste teenage girls and leaving their bodies in a tree. Reports say police officers may themselves have been involved in the attack. | Police are searching for a group of men accused of gang-raping and murdering two low-caste teenage girls and leaving their bodies in a tree. Reports say police officers may themselves have been involved in the attack. |
| Officers in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh say the two cousins were attacked, killed and their bodies discarded early on Wednesday morning. Relatives of the two girls – aged 14 and 15 - complained that police refused to register the case and that two constables may have had a role. | Officers in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh say the two cousins were attacked, killed and their bodies discarded early on Wednesday morning. Relatives of the two girls – aged 14 and 15 - complained that police refused to register the case and that two constables may have had a role. |
| In the aftermath of the assault, the relatives of the two girls refused to allow police to collect the bodies from where they were left in a mango tree, by means of protest. Eventually, officers recovered the corpses and they were sent for post-mortem examination. | In the aftermath of the assault, the relatives of the two girls refused to allow police to collect the bodies from where they were left in a mango tree, by means of protest. Eventually, officers recovered the corpses and they were sent for post-mortem examination. |
| The Press Trust of India news agency said charges had now been filed against seven people, including two police constables who had been suspended. | |
| Reports said that one of the policemen had participated in the attack and that the other refused to listen to the relatives of the two girls who had reported them missing. It appears the attack happened after the two girls had gone to the fields early on Wednesday morning as they – like hundreds of million of Indians – had no lavatory in their home. | |
| Reports said the two girls were members of the Dalit community, previously called untouchables, which has traditionally stood at the very bottom of the Hindu caste system. Campaigners say Dalits are often the victims of sexual attacks and rapes and that often police are slow to investigate, especially in rural areas. | |
| Beena Pallical of the National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, said members of the community suffered in many ways when attacks like this took place. Firstly there was the assault itself and then there was often the unwillingness of the authorities to investigate the matter. | |
| “This is a never ending circle. The violence keeps coming no matter what we do,” she said. “Every institution in this country is biased, so where do we go?” | |
| The alleged incident, which took place in the Badaun district of Uttar Pradesh, around 140 miles east of Delhi, follows the December 2012 assault upon a Delhi student who was raped and killed after boarding a bus. | |
| In the aftermath of the attack on the 23-year-old, the government toughened the laws relating to sexual assaults and introduced fast-track courts to deal with offenders. Four men and a juvenile were convicted of the attack. |