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Indian girl, 14, gang raped on the orders of a village council

By on July 11, 2014
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By Nita Bhalla 

From our partners at Thomas Reuters Foundation

NEW DELHI, July 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – An Indian village council ordered the gang rape of a 14-year-old girl as punishment after her brother was accused of harassing a female neighbour, the CNN-IBN news channel reported on Friday.

The victim’s family said the council instructed at least three youths to carry out the gang rape which took place in Bokaro district in central India’s Jharkhand state.

“They took her in the jungle and raped her. We were begging for someone to help her, but no one in the village was willing to help us,” the girl’s mother told the news channel.

Police said they had arrested three people and were investigating the incident.

“We are doing all that we can. We have captured the culprits…The reason for the crime is probably infighting within the community,” Manoj Rai, Bokaro’s deputy superintendent of police, was quoted as saying.

In many parts of rural India, village councils act as de facto courts, settling rural disputes on issues from land and cattle ownership to matrimony and murder.

The councils have come under growing scrutiny for their punitive edicts  – from banning women from wearing western clothing or using mobile phones to supporting child marriage and sanctioning the lynching of young couples in so-called “honour killings”.

In January, a 20-year-old woman in West Bengal state was gang-raped by 13 men on the orders of a village court as punishment for having a relationship with a man from a different community.

Mamta Sharma, chairwoman for the National Commission for Women said action should be taken against councils for issuing such rulings.

“These regional panchayats (councils) which do injustice to women … action should be taken in such matters. Inhumane things are happening. Why do the district administration not create awareness among the public?” said Sharma.

India toughened laws on sex crimes in March 2013 following the fatal gang rape of a physiotherapist on a Delhi bus in December 2012. The case led to nationwide protests for better protection for women and has helped sparked national debate about gender inequality in India.

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