Yesterday, two minor Dalit sisters were raped and killed. Their bodies were found hanging from a khair tree in a sugarcane field in their village in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh. A heinous crime that is distressingly frequent in rural India. Meanwhile, the conviction rate under POSCO Act is only about 40 per cent. And, a significant chunk of the Nirbhaya funds remain unutilised by the state governments.

Two minor Dalit sisters in Lakhimpur Kheri district were gangraped and murdered yesterday. Their dead bodies were found hanging from a tree. As reflected in the latest data on the crime records in India, the incident is not an isolated case as every third rape victim belonging to the Dalit community is a minor. Also, 12.22 per cent of the total rape cases reported in the country are of women belonging to the Dalit community.

What happens after the last reporter goes away? In a series titled 'Twice Cursed', Gaon Connection revisits the families of rape victims, now forgotten. Have they picked up the pieces of their lives and moved on? Here is what remains of the family of the 19-year-old Dalit girl from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, who was gangraped on September 14, 2020, and died two weeks later.

The bodies of two sisters from the Dalit community were found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district. The police suspect that it is a case of gangrape followed by murder and a total of six accused have been arrested so far. Details here.

The Nirbhaya fund was set up to enhance safety and security for women in the country. However, 33 per cent of the funds remain unutilised.