120,000 join online fight to protect sisters sentenced to be gang-raped by villagers

More than 120,000 people have signed a petition to stop two Indian sisters being gang-raped and paraded around a village naked with blackened faces as retribution for their brother’s behaviour. Meenakshi Kumari, 23, and her sister, 15, were handed punishment by a Khap Panchayat - an unelected, all-male village council - because their brother eloped with a married, higher-caste woman. Now, Amnesty International has called on Indian authorities to ensure their safety and tens of thousands of people have signed its online petition to stop the punishment being meted out in Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh.

Rape is a revolting crime, not a punishment. It’s no wonder this disgusting ‘sentence’ has provoked global outrage

Rachel Alcock, Amnesty UK

The brother, 22, and and the woman, 21, had apparently been in love for three years. But his family was from the lower Dalit caste and when the woman’s family found out they married her off to a young man from the dominant Jat caste. A month later, the couple ran away and, even though they returned, the village elders said the sisters should be punished. They have fled with their family and are seeking refuge in New Delhi. The older sister has filed a petition before India’s Supreme Court seeking protection for her family so they can return home.

World amnesty international