Ever since
the fatal gang rape of a student in Delhi in December 2012, there have
been public protests and an outcry against sexual violence
There is outrage over
police inaction in a village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh where
two teenage girls were gang-raped and hanged from a tree.
The father of one victim says he was ridiculed by police when he sought help in finding his missing daughter.
He said that when policemen found out he was from a lower caste, they "refused to look for my girl".
At least three men, including one policeman, have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Relatives have complained that police refused to help find the missing girls, aged 14 and 16, who were cousins from a low caste.
"When I went to the police station, the first thing I was asked was
my caste. When I told them what my caste was, they started abusing me,"
the father of one of the girls told the BBC.
Divisions between India's castes run deep. Violence is often used by upper castes to instil fear in lower castes.
Although both the victim and the accused belonged to a caste
grouping known as 'Other Backward Classes', the victims were lower in
that hierarchy.
The victims had apparently gone out to relieve themselves as they had no toilet at home.
Campaigners have highlighted the lack of sanitation in rural
areas as being a risk to women's security as well as their health, as
they are often attacked when having to go out to go the toilet,
particularly at night.
Further suspects hunted
Police said two men had been arrested for the rape and murder of the girls.
A constable was also detained for conspiring with the
suspects and for dereliction of duty, authorities said, adding they were
looking for one more suspect and one constable.
Indian media reacts to hangings
The incident has received top coverage on India's main TV channels such as NDTV, Times Now and CNN-IBN.
"Uttar Pradesh Rape shockers", reads a ticker on NDTV,
which accuses the local police of being "complicit" with the attackers
and quotes relatives of the two girls saying they have "no faith"
they'll receive justice.
"Lawless in Uttar Pradesh" reads a top headline on CNN-IBN, which has started its own campaign using the hashtag #StopThisShame.
"UP: 3 Rapes in 48Hrs" is the lead on the Times Now
channel, which reports the growing number of rape incidents in the state
of Uttar Pradesh.
"Outrage" is the word used on the front pages of several
leading English-language newspapers, including The Hindu and The Indian
Express.
In an editorial, The Times of India lays the blame on the
government of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Singh, saying the
hangings "exposes the state's slide into medieval lawlessness".
Source: BBC Monitoring
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