As police arrest a third suspect in India gang rape case, a community mourns

(Image credit: REUTERS/Jitendra Prakash)

last updated 8 January 2015

Following the gruesome gang rape and murder of two teenage cousins in India, police arrested a third suspect in the case today. The three suspects, all men in their 20s, are from the Uttar Pradesh state, an area of the country long known for its violence and lawlessness, reports TIME.

Two more villagers are being sought in connection to the case, and the suspects could face the death penalty, Indian officials said. Ten rapes are reported in Uttar Pradesh each day, but this case gained national — and then international — attention after the father of one of the girls, Sohan Lal, refused a federal payoff, despite his living in extreme poverty. Instead, Lal demanded an investigation, and India's government has since begun to react in response to the case's backlash.

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Sarah Eberspacher is an associate editor at TheWeek.com. She has previously worked as a sports reporter at The Livingston County Daily Press & Argus and The Arizona Republic. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

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