Two men who raped, murdered and hung two Indian sisters from a tree have been sentenced to life in prison.
People with placards demonstrate against the Hathras incident and crimes against women, at Jantar Mantar, on October 5, 2020 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Sanjeev Verma/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
Local police said the girls had been raped in a field and strangled to death with their shawls, adding that the men had hung the girls’ bodies from a tree to make it look like suicide, the Guardian reported.
Members of Maitree Women’s Rights Organization protested against the remission of life sentence to the convicts of the Bilkis Bano raped case. Bilkis was brutally raped. on August 24, 2022 in Kolkata, India.
Police said the girls, who belonged to the India’s low caste, marginalized Dalit community, had known the men but the family have denied this, saying the girls had been kidnapped.
The girls’ mother told local media that the men had turned up at their house and abducted them on scooters.
NEW DELHI, INDIA – DECEMBER 22: Demonstrators during a protest at Vijay Chowk, following a brutal gang rape of 23 year Para medical student in a moving bus on December 22, 2012 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Jasjeet Plaha/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
“I tried to stop them and ran behind them, but they beat me up and left. I shouted and ran back to seek help from the villagers,” she said.
Social activists and supporters shout slogans to protest against the alleged rape and murder of a 27-year-old veterinary doctor in Hyderabad, during a demonstration in New Delhi, India on December 3, 2019. Photo by Anshuman Akash/ABACAPRESS.COM
Authorities said the men had hung the girls’ bodies from a tree to make it look like they had killed themselves.
An Indian demonstrator holds a placard during a silent protest ‘Not In My Name’ in support of rape victims following high profile cases in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh states, in New Delhi on April 15, 2018. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
The girls belonged to India’s low caste, marginalized Dalit community.
Volunteers from a non-governmental organisation (NGO) hold placards during a protest in New Delhi on October 11, 2020 to condemn the alleged gang-rape and murder of a teenaged woman in Bool Garhi village at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh state. (Photo by SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
The incident reignited outrage against violence against women in India, leading to protests and calls for justice.
Activists hold placards during a protest to condemn the alleged gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Bool Garhi village of Uttar Pradesh state, in Mumbai on October 6, 2020. (Photo by PUNIT PARANJPE/AFP via Getty Images)
On Friday Aug. 11, a court sentenced two men to life in prison for the girls’ rape and murder.
Indian demonstrators hold placards during a silent protest ‘Not In My Name’ in support of rape victims following high profile cases in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh states, in New Delhi on April 15, 2018. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
Another two men were found guilty of destroying evidence and sentenced to six years in jail each.
A volunteer from a non-governmental organisation (NGO) holds a placard during a protest in New Delhi on October 11, 2020 to condemn the alleged gang-rape and murder of a teenaged woman in Bool Garhi village at Hathras in Uttar Pradesh state. (Photo by SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP via Getty Images)
Two minors were also arrested after the crime, with a verdict still pending.
Indian students take part in a protest in Jalandhar on April 16, 2018, over the high profile rape cases in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh states. Indian police have made another arrest after the alleged rape of a teenager by a ruling party politician sparked protests across the country, federal investigators said April 15. (SHAMMI MEHRA/AFP via Getty Images)
India is one of the world’s most dangerous places to be a woman.
Indian students take part in a protest in Jalandhar on April 16, 2018, over the high profile rape cases in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh states. (SHAMMI MEHRA/AFP via Getty Images)
A woman is raped every 15 minutes in the country, according to government data from 2020.
