Monday, October 8, 2012

Girls should marry while they are children to avoid being raped, Indian caste elders declared after a 16 year girl killed herself following a gang-rape

Caste councils, known as Khap Panchayats, called for children to be allowed to marry lawfully as soon as they reach puberty and said that they believe it would halt the increase in rape cases which has caused alarm throughout Northern India. Their call came following an outcry over the gang-rape and subsequent suicide of a 16 year old girl, Sharmila, in Sacchakhera village, Haryana, close to the capital New Delhi. According to relatives, she was gang-raped by neighbors, while members of a neighbor's family watched, including a local policeman. Several of them have been arrested but the policeman has been reported missing. Shortly after the attack, the girl poured kerosene on her body and set fire to herself. She was taken to a local hospital which declined to treat her, and died shortly after reaching another. The attack was the 12th rape in the state in the last four weeks.

No comments: