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A
pair of sisters aged 15 and 23 are to be raped and paraded through the streets
naked with blackened faces as punishment for their brother running away with a
married woman
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A pair of sisters, one of
whom is only 15, are to be raped as punishment for their brother running away
with a married woman in rural India. The teenager and her elder sister
Meenakshi Kumari, who is 23, will also be paraded through the streets naked
with blackened faces, according to an unelected all-male village council. The barbaric punishment has been
handed down in Baghpat district, Uttar Pradesh, around 30 miles north of New
Delhi.
According
to Zee News, the pair's brother Ravi fell in love with a girl from the higher
Jat caste and the couple eloped in March, even after they were forcibly
separated and she was married off to another man in February.
Zee News/Daily Mail UK report continues:
The
sisters fled the village in May fearing retribution, causing the family's home
to be ransacked.
The
Kumaris are Dalits, or untouchables, at the very bottom of India's ancient
caste system, transgressions of which are still taken extremely seriously in
many parts of society.
The
couple has now reportedly surrendered after their families were allegedly
tortured by police and members of the Jat community to avenge the brother's
actions.
But
that was not considered sufficient retribution and the Khap panchayat, or
village council - of which Jats are prominent figures - has decided on the
punishment for the sisters.
India's
Supreme Court has described such bodies as 'kangaroo courts' and branded their
decrees illegal, yet in some states they continue to operate and their
punishments are often carried out, according to Amnesty International.
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The
Supreme Court building in New Delhi. Meenakshi Kumari has filed a petition
with the court asking for protection from the ruling of the village council
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The
group has started a petition against the 'abhorrent' punishment, which now has
nearly 30,000 signatures out of a target of 50,000.
Meenakshi
has filed a petition with the supreme court asking for protection and her
father has lodged a complaint with two national bodies saying that his family
has been harassed not just by the family of the woman who has eloped but also
by the police.
Sumit
Kumar, another brother of Meenakshi, says that members of the Jat caste are
powerful members of the village council and that 'the Jat decision is final',
adding, 'The police said anyone can be murdered now.'
As
well as their own family, Kumar and his relatives are are also worried about
the safety of the Jat woman, who is now thought to be pregnant with Meenakshi's
brother's child.
Khap
panchayats are widespread in parts of India. They tend to be made up of older
men from dominant castes, who prescribe rules for social behaviour and
interaction in villages.
Rachel
Alcock, Amnesty UK's urgent action coordinator, said: 'Rape is a revolting
crime, not a punishment. It's no wonder this disgusting 'sentence' has provoked
global outrage.
'These
Khap courts routinely order vile sexually violent punishments against women.
India's supreme court has rightly declared such orders illegal.
'The
government of Uttar Pradesh has an urgent duty to keep this family safe.
'There must also be a
proper, independent investigation into these barbaric and illegal orders which
apparently continue to be issued by the khap panchayat courts.'
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