Indian Police Fire Water Cannons on Women Protesting Sexual Violence

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Caption:Indian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demonstrators are hit by water cannon as they stand behind a police barricade during a protest against the recent gang-rape and murder of two girls, in Lucknow on June 2, 2014.

Image: STRDEL/AFP/Getty Images

By Brian Ries2014-06-02 12:27:21 UTC

Police in India used water cannons on Monday to disrupt a crowd of several hundred people, most of whom were women, protesting a recent rise in violence against females.

Protesters gathered outside the offices of the regions’s Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, calling for an end to violence against women and girls, when police descended on the crowd and fired water cannons to disperse the protest.

"We're not going to sleep, we'll be here, they have to stop this," one protester told an Indian TV network. "We're going to stay here, we're not going to give up," said another.

See also: Wristwatch to Combat Sexual Violence in India

The protest, held in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, came one week after two girls, ages 14 and 15, were kidnapped, raped, murdered and hung from a mango tree. Their bodies stayed there for 24 hours while villagers sat in silent protest beneath them.

A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member pushes aside a policeman blocking the path during a protest against the gang rape of two teenage girls, in Allahabad, India, Saturday, May 31, 2014.

Five men have been arrested in the horrific attack. All of them face the death penalty.

Authorities also arrested two police officers who are accused of dereliction of duty and criminal conspiracy after reportedly dismissing one of the girl’s father’s concerns of her disappearance.

The girls were members of the Dalit community, India’s lowest caste, once known as the "Untouchables," and the father has accused the region's dominant caste of conspiracy in the crime.

On Sunday, the office of Akhilesh Yadav announced an inquiry into the gang rapers in response to the spreading outrage. "The chief minister has decided to recommend a probe into the Badaun incident as demanded by family members of the victims," Yadav's office said in a statement.

But when asked at a press conference earlier last week about rise of violence against women, Yadav told a female reporter: "You haven't been harmed, have you? No, right? Great. Thank you."

According to USA Today, records show rape in India is committed every 22 minutes, but experts believe that number misrepresents the true rate, as women are encouraged to stay silent by their families in cases of rape and sexual assault.

Additional reporting by Jonathan Ellis.

Topics: india, Rape, US & World, women, World