India police flee after alleged rape

According to Press Trust of India (PTI), the incident took place the Badaun district, in Uttar Pradesh state - the same district where two cousins aged 14 and 16 were found hanged from a mango tree in May. Five months later, federal investigators concluded that the girls had "committed suicide" and were not gang-raped and murdered as previously thought.

According to Superintendent Lallan Singh, a search for the two missing men has been launched after the girl's mother filed a complaint that the policemen took her daughter to the police station in a car and raped her in a room in the station premises.

"They have been suspended and if found guilty will be punished according to the law," Singh added.

Sexual violence in India has been remained in the headlines over the last two years after a 23-year-old student was gang-raped on a bus in Delhi. She died days later in hospital from injuries.

As a result of the ensuing international uproar, India was forced to introduce tough new rape laws, including the death penalty for particularly brutal cases.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, Uttar Pradesh state has one of the country's highest incidences of crimes against women including rape, abduction, and harassment for dowry.

ksb/se (dpa)