Two people in India were arrested this week for allegedly physically assaulting and publicly humiliating a mother and daughter as punishment for resisting rape.
A group of at least five men, including a public official, on Wednesday broke into the victims' residence in the northeastern state of Bihar in an attempt to molest them, according to NDTV and Reuters. When the mother and daughter resisted the sexual assault, the attackers allegedly beat them with wooden sticks, shaved their heads in front of the village and paraded them around as punishment. The arrest statuses of the other three men involved in the incident is currently unknown.
"We have been beaten very badly. I have injuries all over my body and my daughter too has some injuries," the mother said of the incident.
Recounting the events, the daughter added: "I was alone with my mother around 6:30 in the evening when five men from the neighborhood forcefully entered the house and tried to molest me. When my mother and I protested, they started beating us with a stick and took us outside of the house."
According to The Hindustan Times, the mother was 48 years old and the daughter 19 at the time of the attack. Their identities have not been released. The paper also identified the leader of the group of attackers as local ward councillor Mohammad Khurshid.
Officials from the Bhagwanpur Police Station were still investigating the incident. "We have arrested two men till now and looking for the rest three accused in this case. The police is doing its best to give justice to the family and we assure the investigation will be completed soon," Sanjay Kumar, Station House Officer (SHO) of the Bhagwanpur Police station explained.
The state's women commission condemned the attackers and vowed to take "further action."
Incidents of rape and sexual assault against women are rife across many parts of India, particularly in rural areas. Earlier this year, another woman in the state of Bihar was physically assaulted and paraded naked through a market. In April, a young girl was attacked with acid by four men for fighting off their attempted gang rape of her. A man in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh killed two women with his car this week after they resisted his attempt to sexually assault one of their daughters.
In 2016, India recorded roughly 40,000 rapes, which averages out to roughly 100 per day.
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