Indian men are buying sickening over-the-counter gang rape videos for as little as 12p.

The clips, which include the sexual abuse of children, can be readily bought in shops with traders sending their clients the videos directly to their phones.

It is rife in Uttar Pradesh, India, where rapists film themselves attacking women in order to use the video to blackmail victims who want to take them to court.

Those videos end up in the hands of shopkeepers, who build up a huge stash of similar tapes and sell them on for between 10 and 200 rupees (12p to £2.49) to their customers who are able to save them on their phones, computers or tablets.

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The clips, which include the sexual abuse of children, can be readily bought in shops with traders sending their clients the videos directly to their phones. There is no suggestion the men pictured are involved in the illegal trade in any way

The videos, including ones with multiple assailants and minors, are sometimes stolen from perpetrators' phones when their device is taken into shops.

Shopkeepers drain the footage and sell it on to anybody who asks for it.

Other videos are are sold to shops.

In Saharanpur, a village in western Uttar Pradesh, one man told Al Jazeera he regularly watches the rape videos which he buys from nearby villages.

Declining to give his name, he said he has a library of rape footage on his laptop, referring to it as 'pornography'.

When asked why he watches the clips, he said it gives 'peace of mind'.

Those videos end up in the hands of shopkeepers, who build up a huge stash of similar tapes and sell them on for between 10 and 200 rupees (12p to £2.49) to their customers who are able to save them on their phones, computers or tablets

Back in August, reported police had made 35 arrests in a number of raids to combat the issue, but in the latest worrying reports, Al Jazeera claims officers were oblivious to the problem.

District Inspector General of Police for Saharanpur Range, A K Shahi, said he did not know what a rape video was.

'Rape video ... ye kya hota hai (Rape video, what is this)?' he asked the Al Jazeera reporter.

The Inspector General of Police for Meerut Range, Ajay Anand, told Al Jazeera that he was too new to the job to know anything about the videos.

'I have been posted here recently. Hence I don't have any idea of these rape videos being sold in the market,' he said.

'I am not in a position to comment. I don't know the authenticity of these rape videos. I need to see them first before making any comment.'

The videos, seen by journalists,were deeply disturbing, and included what appeared to be a minor, according to Al Jazeera.

One victim was begging her rapists to stop, saying she would commit suicide.

India has an ongoing issue with violence, and especially sexual assaults, against women.

India Today reports men are watching the videos and going out to re-enact them with women in the local towns and villages, although the clips could be videos depicting rape.