23 year old Meenakshi Kumari and her 15 year old sister have been sentenced to be punished by being raped and paraded naked in front of their neighbors. They are being punished because their brother eloped with a married woman of a higher caste.
For those who aren’t familiar with the caste system, it is a system of social separation, based on economic status originally, and now based on what family a person is born into. It consists of many different levels or “castes.” The Kumari family is a member of the Dalit caste, which is the lowest in the Indian system, so when their 22 year old brother ran away with a woman from a higher caste system, it caused quite a disturbance.
To make matters worse, when the eloped couple was found last summer, the woman actually pressed charges against the man for abducting her. Whether or not the young man actually abducted this woman, his sisters (aged 23 and 15) are being sentenced for a crime that they did not commit. Not only that, but they are being sentenced to be raped.
Rachel Alcock, Amnesty UK’s Urgent Action Coordinator said: “Rape is a revolting crime, not a punishment. It’s no wonder this disgusting ‘sentence’ has provoked global outrage. These khap [unofficial village] courts routinely order vile sexually violent punishments against women. India’s Supreme Court has rightly declared such orders illegal.“
Amnesty International has an online petition demanding justice for these two girls. You too can stand against it by signing the petition. It can be found here.
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