Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the rape and hanging of the two cousins, 14 and 15-year-old in Uttar Pradesh, India last Tuesday.
The girls who are from the low-caste Dalit community previously known as the “untouchables” stepped out to urinate when the attackers grabbed them.
They were found hanging from a mango tree near their homes the next morning, after being raped.
Police Officer Atul Saxena say the suspects confessed to the crime while two other suspects are still being hunted.
He added that identity sketches of the two missing suspects based on descriptions provided by the arrested suspects were being prepared.
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Two police officers have been suspended and arrested for failing to investigate when the father of one of the teenagers reported the girls’ disappearance
A villager, Jamuni Devi who spoke to CNN said toilets are rare in India which makes women to wander into the fields to relieve themselves. This she said makes them vulnerable to attacks and molestations.
“There’s no toilet. Where can the girls go?” shouted Jamuni Devi.
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According to a United Nations (UN) report, Indians have more access to mobile phones than to toilet
“India has some 545 million cell phones, enough to serve about 45% of the population,” according to the U.N.
But it also has the highest number of people in the world — an estimated 620 million — who defecate in the open, according to UNICEF.
Protesters in the community have called for public hanging of the killers of the girls
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