The appalling case of two teenage girls who were brutally raped and then hanged has prompted outrage across India and the world. Can anything be done to prevent such dreadful crimes?
Sexual violence in India shocks the world
The appalling case of two teenage girls who were brutally raped and then hanged has prompted outrage across India and the world. Can anything be done to prevent such dreadful crimes?
India is reeling once again. Eighteen months after the shocking rape and murder of a 23-year-old Delhi student sparked nationwide protests and international condemnation, two young girls have been found hanging from a tree after being brutally gang-raped.
Last Tuesday, the 14 and 15-year-old cousins left their homes in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about 150 miles south-east of New DelhiIndia's capital city has a very bad reputation for sexual assault.. It was evening and the best friends were on their way to a nearby field to use as a toilet, because they had none in their village.
When they failed to return home, the girls' families alerted the police, but they ridiculed them and refused to investigate, because the families are from the lowest ranks of the Indian 'casteIndia's version of the class system, where your status in society is rigidly determined by your birth and the caste of your parents. Caste identities are weakening, but are still strong in rural areas and particularly in northern parts of the country. The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories - Brahmins (teachers, priests, intellectuals), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), Vaishyas (farmers, traders, merchants) and the Shudras (manual labourers). Then there are the Dalits, or the "untouchables". ' hierarchy - known as Dalits. After their discovery, the bodies were only removed eight hours later from the branches of the tree.
The case has shocked and shamed India, and has highlighted several issues that plague this country - sexual violence, poverty and prejudice. It is one of the first major challenges to face India's new prime minister, Narendra Modi - whose own lowly social status was a key element of his election victory last month.
Although it is illegal to discriminate against a person based on their caste in India, prejudice is still widespread. Members of dominant castes are known to use sexual violence against Dalit women and girls to assert their power. Two officers involved in the case have been arrested and two others dismissed.
Campaigners also highlight the lack of sanitation in rural areas which causes serious health problems and also encourages sexual violence. Women are often attacked when they have to go into the fields at night.
For a country that aspires to superpower status, the lack of toilets is a source of shame and embarrassment. Modi promised 'toilets first, temples later' in the run-up to his election victory.
<h5 class="eplus-7Iosgi">But will change come soon enough?</h5>
This is an appalling crime, and one that happens all too frequently - official statistics say there are 25,000 rapes every year - but activists say this might be only ten per cent or less of the real figure. But changing sexual and cultural attitudes in such a deeply conservative country is a project whose success will be measured in decades.
But others argue that politiciansSomeone whose job it is to be involved in running a country. Politicians try to persuade people they have the best ideas to run the country. must act immediately. In the past, attitudes to rape in India have been casual, and even politicians have openly blamed rape victims with few consequences. But the tide is turning and Indian women are now demanding greater protection and independence. The country's new, dynamic prime minister, must respond to this crisis fast.
New Delhi - India's capital city has a very bad reputation for sexual assault.
Caste - India's version of the class system, where your status in society is rigidly determined by your birth and the caste of your parents. Caste identities are weakening, but are still strong in rural areas and particularly in northern parts of the country. The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories - Brahmins (teachers, priests, intellectuals), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), Vaishyas (farmers, traders, merchants) and the Shudras (manual labourers). Then there are the Dalits, or the "untouchables".
Politicians - Someone whose job it is to be involved in running a country. Politicians try to persuade people they have the best ideas to run the country.
Sexual violence in India shocks the world
Glossary
New Delhi - India's capital city has a very bad reputation for sexual assault.
Caste - India's version of the class system, where your status in society is rigidly determined by your birth and the caste of your parents. Caste identities are weakening, but are still strong in rural areas and particularly in northern parts of the country. The caste system divides Hindus into four main categories - Brahmins (teachers, priests, intellectuals), Kshatriyas (warriors and rulers), Vaishyas (farmers, traders, merchants) and the Shudras (manual labourers). Then there are the Dalits, or the "untouchables".
Politicians - Someone whose job it is to be involved in running a country. Politicians try to persuade people they have the best ideas to run the country.