India villagers demand progress in fatal rape case

NEW DELHI — Angry villagers in western India threatened Saturday to resume a highway blockade unless police show progress in the search for suspects in the rape and killing of three young sisters.

The girls' bodies were found Feb. 16 in a village well in Bhandara district in Maharashtra state after they had gone missing from school two days earlier. According to news reports, their mother has said the girls were 6, 9 and 10 years old.

Also on Saturday, in a separate incident, a teacher was arrested for allegedly raping a 13-year-old schoolgirl in Bhandara's Golati village on Thursday, Press Trust of India reported. The teacher, who surrendered after the girl complained to police, was charged with raping a minor, PTI said.

The mother of the three sisters who were raped and killed said police did not immediately take the case seriously and did nothing until villagers held protests last week, including blocking the highway. On Saturday, they threatened to block it again if police do not show progress in their investigation.

Police officer Abhinav Deshmukh said Friday that 10 teams of 30 investigators were working on the case and that he was confident they would find the killers soon.