Family flees home after Khap Panchayat orders rape for UP sisters
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New Delhi/ Baghpat, Sep 01 (ANI): Twenty-three-year-old Meenakshi Kumari lives under fear with her 15-year-old sister after a village council in Uttar Pradesh ordered the two "low-caste" sisters to be raped and paraded naked with their faces blackened as a punishment for their brother's actions, who eloped with a married woman of higher caste. A village council (locally known as Khap Panchayat) in Baghpat district of Uttar Pradesh, dominated by upper caste 'Jat' men, on July 30 passed the diktat against the 'Dalit' sisters. Currently taking refuge in New Delhi, Meenakshi said her family fled their village following constant threats from the Jats. Meenakshi came to New Delhi on May 24 with her family and filed a petition in the Supreme Court to grant them safety. Taking cognizance of the case, Supreme Court has asked the UP government to present its report on September 14, when the case is due for hearing. Members of British Parliament have also appealed to their government to discuss the matter with Indian authorities to prevent public humiliation of two girls.
