Two sisters have been sentenced to be raped in India as punishment for their brother eloping with a married woman.

Meenakshi (23) and her sister (15) are also to be paraded naked around their village with blackened faces for the 'crime' their brother committed.

The sisters are from a village in Baghpat district, near New Deli in the north of India.

On July 30, the unelected all-male village council ordered for the girls to suffer for their brother's actions.

Amnesty International has highlighted the plight of the girls, and is asking people to sign a petition to demand that the local authorities intervene.

Fled

The sisters' brother eloped with a married woman from a dominant caste (Jat) in the village. His two sisters and their family fled the village in May for fear of reprisals for his actions.

Shortly after they left the village their house was ransacked.

Another of the sisters' brothers, Sumit Kumar, said that the Jat caste were powerful members on the village and whatever decision they made was final.

Meenakshi has filed a petition with the Supreme Court asking for the state's protection. Her father has lodged a complaint with two national bodies saying that his family have been harassed by the woman's family as well as the police.

The woman who eloped is now thought to be pregnant with Meenakshi's brother's child, and the family also fear for her safety (from her own family).

Amnesty International said in its appeal that these kind of unelected village councils are widespread in parts of India.

"More often than not they are made up of older men from dominant castes, who prescribe rules for social behaviour and interaction in villages," said the group.

The petition has almost 30,000 signatures so far and can be found at this link.

Irish Independent

Belfast Telegraph