6 men arrested in rape, killing of teenage Indian sisters

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Six men have been arrested in northern India for allegedly raping and killing two teenage girls whose bodies were found hanging from a tree a day earlier. The 15- and 17-year-old girls belonged to the Dalit community, the lowest rung of India’s rigid caste hierarchy. Police say they were found hanging from a tree in a sugarcane field near their house in Uttar Pradesh state. Dalits — formerly known as “untouchables” — are victims of thousands of attacks each year. Rights groups say Dalit women are particularly vulnerable to caste-based discrimination and sexual violence. Rape and sexual violence has been under the spotlight since the 2012 gang rape and brutal killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus.