Thousands urge help for Indian sisters ‘ordered raped’
NEW DELHI. — Thousands have signed a petition urging protection for two Indian sisters after a local council allegedly ordered them raped and paraded naked as “punishment” after their brother eloped with a married woman.
Amnesty International said yesterday more than 122 000 people have joined its online petition in recent days to protest at the order by the council of elders or “khap panchayat” in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
“An unelected all-male village council (khap panchayat) ordered that they be raped and paraded naked, their faces blackened, as punishment for the actions of their brother,” Amnesty’s petition said.
One of the sisters this month filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking protection for her family after they were forced to flee their village in Bhagpat district. — AFP.
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