Two Sisters to be raped as punishment

Amnesty International is reporting that "On 24 May, 23-year-old Meenakshi Kumari and her 15-year-old sister fled the village for fear of reprisals for their brother’s actions – he eloped with a married woman from a dominant caste (Jat). Shortly after they left their house was ransacked. On July 30, members of a village Khap panchayat – an unelected all-male village council – ordered that Meenakshi Kumari and her sister be raped and paraded naked, with their faces blackened, as punishment for the actions of their brother. Punishment was not ordered for male family members – a common practice in this part of India, where village councils are known to order sexually violent punishments against women and girls. Ordering sexual violence against women and girls is caused by deep-rooted gender discrimination and must be stopped."