The case of the rape and hanging of two girls in Badaun, Uttar Pradesh, widely reported to be Dalits, has caused a global media storm of reports on rape and violence against women in India and the strong links to caste discrimination. Numerous stories have highlighted that India’s ‘rape culture’ and ‘culture of impunity’ will not end until caste discrimination is tackled head on. Leading Human Rights NGOs and the UN have also made statements.
Although the Badaun case hit the global headlines, similar stories of rape, gang-rape or murder of Dalit girls and women in India go unreported every day. As global media have been raging over this case four Dalit teenagers, victims of gang-rape by dominant caste men in Haryana have been protesting in New Delhi to get justice and have the perpetrators convicted. Impunity in cases of rape and violence against Dalit women, where men from the dominant castes are perpetrators, is unfortunately routine. Find more information, cases and quotes on Dalit women in the leaflet Dalit women fight! that has just been released by IDSN.
Below is a list of selected press clippings from the Badaun case on the linkages between caste discrimination and rape in India.
Press Clippings
Authorities must impartially investigate gang-rape and murder of Dalit girls(Amnesty International)
Can Modi end rampant sexual abuse in India (Human Rights Watch)
India state minister on rape: ‘Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong‘ (The Guardian)
In Baduan parents used to girls abduction, rape (Times of India)
India’s feudal rapists (New York Times – op-ed)
India’s caste culture is a rape culture (The Daily Beast)
Violence against Dalit women not taken seriously (Deutsche Welle)
Viewpoint: India must stop denying caste and gender violence (BBC)
Police officers accused as low caste teenage girls are gang-raped and hung from a tree in India (Independent)
Teen girls gang-raped and hanged from a tree (Reuters)
Badaun rape – they could have been saved if police acted (NDTV)
Two girl in a tree – why the Indian rape photos are inexcusable (New America Media)
Indian media: Anger over gang rape (BBC)
Indian rape case: tenacious problems in a fast-changing but troubled country(The Guardian)
Indian gang-rape girl’s family say they have been threatened with violence(The Guardian)
Indian gang-rape victim’s father rejects compensation offer (The Guardian)