New York: The UN has strongly condemned the gang-rape and murder of two low-caste teenage girls in India’s UP state and called for steps to end violence against women.
Stephane Dujjaric, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson said, “The rape and death of the two girls, who were hanged from a tree, is a horrendous crime. There are some incidents (where) words are difficult to choose. It was clearly a horrendous incident.â€
The crime took place in Badaun, a village, Dujjaric added that it underscored “the wave of violence that we’ve seen against women. Whether in Pakistan, whether in India, whether gender-based violence that we’ve seen most recently in California that was clearly targeted at women, and the Secretary-General has spoken out forcefully against violence against womenâ€.
The shocking incident took place after the cousin sisters aged 14 and 15 years went missing on May 27. They were gang-raped and their bodies were found hanging from a tree in the village.
The family members of the victims have alleged that the police refused to take action after they went to them to report that they were missing.
After the recovery of bodies, FIR was filed against seven people including two policemen. While the five main accused have been arrested, police continue to look for the remaining two.