At least three men, including one police officer, have been
arrested after two teenage girls were gang raped and hanged from a tree in
India.
Authorities in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh said they
were looking for one more suspect and one constable.
The victims' family earlier complained that police had
refused to help find the missing girls, aged 14 and 16.
Violence and discrimination against women in India remains
deeply entrenched.
But scrutiny of sexual violence has grown since the 2012
gang rape and murder of a student on a Delhi bus.
The government tightened laws on sexual violence laws in
India last year after widespread protests following that attack.
Silent protest
Police said two men had been arrested for the gang rape and
murder of the two girls, who were cousins from a low caste
A constable was also detained for conspiring with the
suspects and for dereliction of duty, authorities added.
Earlier on Thursday, officials had confirmed that three
policemen had been removed from duty for not registering cases when the girls
were reported missing on Tuesday night.
The bodies of the teenagers were found in Katra Shahadatganj
village in Badaun district on Wednesday morning.
A post-mortem examination confirmed rape and death due to
hanging, police said.
Hundreds of villagers held a silent demonstration at the
scene of the crime in protest at the police's perceived inaction.
Earlier this year, a 20-year-old tribal woman was gang raped
in eastern West Bengal state - allegedly on the orders of village elders who
objected to her relationship with a man.
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