Most of the newly-constructed toilets don't even have doors, so the women of Badaun can't use them
Every day, once dusk sets in, 19-year-old Lakshmi sets off for the nearest field, about 200 metres away, to relieve herself.
She has to take her mother along; two girls from her village were abducted nearly two months ago, when they had stepped out of their homes to relieve themselves.
The two girls, in Lakshmi's village of Katra in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun, were found hanging from a tree the next day morning. They had been allegedly gang-raped and hanged alive.
The incident, which sparked national outrage, also revealed how the glaring lack of toilets in rural areas jeopardized the safety of women.
In the wake of the horrific incident, NGO Sulabh International had pledged to construct a 100 toilets in Badaun.
Though the initial construction has been completed, these toilets lack proper finishing; they don't even have doors yet, making it impossible for local women to use them.
"Work was stopped around 10 days ago. We are very scared when we go out of the house to relieve ourselves. But how can we use these toilets," asks Lakshmi.
When queried about the delay, Sulabh's planning-in-charge Ramesh Mishra explains that it took a lot of time to decide which of the houses will get a toilet.
"The aggrieved family had asked us to construct more toilets. Ultimately, we increased the number of toilets in their part of the village," says Mr Sharma.
The family of the teenaged sisters now has a newly-constructed toilet right outside their house. But, allege family members of the two girls, toilets are being constructed based on caste considerations.
"They were constructing all the toilets on the other side of the village, close to the village chief's house, for their own political ends," they claim.
Meanwhile, Sulabh authorities say they will be able to hand over fully functional toilets to these families within a couple of weeks.
But local administration officials point out that it will take time to build awareness about the need for public toilets, and how to use them, in Badaun.