An unelected all-male village council in India has ordered that 23-year-old Meenakshi Kumari and her 15-year-old sister be raped as punishment after their brother ran off with a married woman.
Absolutely sick stuff.
According to news site Zee Media, the sisters’ brother Ravi fell in love with a girl from the Jat caste, a higher social caste than Ravi and his family, who are Dalit, once known as the ‘untouchables’, who are at the bottom of India’s caste system.
The Jat woman’s family married her off to someone else in February but she later escaped and eloped with Ravi in March.
The “married” woman in question was forced into the marriage.
As punishment, on July 31 a village council decided Ravi’s sisters should be raped to avenge his actions.
Why does this ragtag council get to make these calls?
In an appeal, Amnesty International said: “Unelected village councils such as this are widespread in parts of India.
“More often than not they are made up of older men from dominant castes, who prescribe rules for social behaviour and interaction in villages.
“Nothing could justify this abhorrent punishment. It’s not fair. It’s not right. And it’s against the law.”
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