In the latest edition of what-the-hell-is-going-on-with-the-world news, it’s been reported that two girls in Uttar Pradesh, India, are to be raped as punishment for their older brother’s elopement.
You see, they’re Dalits - the lowest caste – but their brother’s wife – from the more dominant Jat caste - eloped to escape an arranged marriage and he married a woman from a higher caste. And according to village elders in Baghpat, it is such a bad crime that the punishment, decreed out by its unofficial council, is for 23-year-old Meenakshi Kumari and her 15-year-old sister to be raped, painted black and paraded naked.
Kumari and her sister have fled the village, and according to Time, she approached India’s Supreme Court to explain that police have been harassing instead of helping her and her family and they ‘cannot return back to her village and have been rendered homeless.’
And while the Supreme Court have asked the Uttar Pradesh government for a response, Amnesty International has set up a petition calling for authorities to act against this ruling.
The petition insists: ‘Nothing could justify this abhorrent punishment. It’s not fair. It’s not right. And it’s against the law. Demand that the local authorities intervene immediately.’
Over 28,000 people have signed the petition. While a 2011 ruling means that these unelected male councils, known as ‘khap panchayats’ are outlawed, they still operate in some rural areas of India.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.