The United Nations has condemned the brutal gang-rape and murder of two teenaged girls on the night of May 28 in Katra village in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district.

“There should be justice for the families of the two teenaged girls and for all the women and girls from lower caste communities who are targeted and raped in rural India. Violence against women is not a women’s issue, it’s a human rights issue,” said Lise Grande, Resident Coordinator of the UN system in India, in a release.

Rebecca Tavares, UN Women's Representative in India, said, “Amongst the many actions that need to be taken, the UN encourages the speedier application of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, including the establishment of the one-stop crisis centres. The justice system is key to addressing the problem.”

The UN said having the laws in place was only one part of the solution. “Their implementation also matters as does changing mind-sets. Violence against women and girls is preventable, not inevitable,” it said.

Drawing attention to the scourge of open defecation in India, Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF's Representative to India, said “Around 65 per cent of rural population defecates in the open and women and girls are expected to go out at night. This does not only threaten their dignity, but their safety as well.”

Related Topics