Onlookers sit at the site where two girls were hanged from a tree at Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh.
Police on Saturday arrested the fifth accused in the gang-rape and murder of two teen sisters in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district.
Two policemen have also been arrested for allegedly not acting soon enough on the complaint of the girls' family. They were booked for negligence of duty on Friday evening; police will also probe their alleged role in the horrific act.
The Uttar Pradesh government has promised to set up a fast track court to punish the culprits.
The action came three days after the girls, cousins aged 14 and 15, were gang-raped and their bodies were found hanging from a tree in Katra village. (
Uttar Pradesh Government Sends Reports to Home Ministry on Badaun Incident)
The father of one of the girls has alleged that they could have been saved had the police acted on time.
The girls had gone missing from their home on Tuesday night after they stepped out to relieve themselves. They had allegedly been abducted by some men from the village. (
'They Could Have Been Saved if Police Acted', says Family)
The family alleges that when they approached the local police for help, they refused to register a first information report, or a FIR, for hours. While they were unsuccessfully trying to convince the police to file a FIR, they heard that the girls had been found hanging from a tree in an orchard in their village. (
Mayawati Demands CBI Probe In Badaun Gangrape Case)
A case of rape and murder was reportedly registered only after angry villagers protested against the alleged police apathy.
The family has demanded an independent inquiry into the case, alleging that they have little hope of justice from the Akhilesh Yadav-led state government since the accused belong to the same community as the chief minister. (
'You Are Safe, Aren't You?', Defiant Akhilesh on Law and Order in UP)
"We are so poor that we don't expect justice to be done to us. Police has been pressurising us to change our statement," the neighbour of one of the victims told NDTV.
Though the villagers claim to have lost faith in the UP police and the state government completely, they are determined to continue their fight for justice.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi will visit Badaun later today to meet the family members of the two girls.