“ABHORRENT PUNISHMENT”

India – where prosecutions can spend years caught up in the country's notoriously laborious justice system – hailed it as a landmark ruling.

The possibility of an India that was safer for women was a chink of light in the darkness that surrounded Jyoti's murder. But three years on, the world has been left asking what, if anything, has truly changed, following reports that two sisters in Uttar Pradesh were forced to flee their homes after being sentenced to rape by an unelected village council.

According to Amnesty International, when the girls' brother eloped with a married woman in Baghpat, the council – or khap panchayat – ordered that his sisters, aged 23 and 15, be raped as “punishment”. A petition launched by the human rights organisation says the khap panchayat also ordered the girls to be paraded naked through their village with their faces blackened. Amnesty has called on the authorities in India to intervene and prevent the “abhorrent” punishment, and its petition has attracted more than 330,000 signatures from people all over the world stunned by the suggestion that such an arbitrary ruling should carry any weight. But Gopika Bashi, an Amnesty spokeswoman, told Emirates Woman that khap panchayats wield “immense power” in parts of India.“Such an order is illegal under Indian law,” says Ms Bashi, who explains that such councils are unelected bodies that are “almost always” dominated by high caste males.“Their meetings are usually held only between members of one caste, and there are usually no written records of proceedings,” she adds.

The council's order was outlined in a document filed by a lawyer on behalf of the sisters, who belong to the low-ranking Dalit caste. In the weeks since, the council has denied issuing an order for the women to be raped, and details surrounding what exactly passed between the council and the sisters remain murky,but Amnesty has not rescinded its petition and said it will continue to fight for the protection of the family.

“The family have said that they fear harassment and violence from members of the dominant caste if they return to their village without protection,”Ms Bashi says.“The father has returned to the village, and is currently living there with police protection, to garner support from other villagers. The rest of the family, however, still remain in Delhi.”