Katra Sadatganj , Uttar Pradesh , India ( CNN ) -- It 's pitch dark as we drive through the villages of India 's most populous state . No street lights line the roads which cross large swaths of farmland ; the only flashes of light come from the bolts of lightning which flicker across the stormy night sky . A powerful dust storm has knocked out power supplies as we head into Uttar Pradesh 's Budaun district , but the headlights of our car illuminate the hazy figures of men and women squatting behind roadside bushes to defecate . Some 120km ahead of us lies the village -- Katra Sadatganj -- where two schoolgirls were attacked when they went out into the fields to relieve themselves Tuesday night ; the pair were gang raped and later found hanged in a mango tree . The brutal assault has brought a range of challenges facing India into the international spotlight , almost 67 years after the country gained its independence from British rule . At Katra Sadatganj , villagers mourning the two girls blame a cocktail of issues for the horrific rape attack , from a lack of decent sanitation , to underdevelopment , to what they call police `` slackness '' in response to the girls ' disappearance . According to UNICEF , India has the highest number of people in the world -- an estimated 620 million -- who defecate in the open ; only half of the nation 's population uses toilets . Most of those living at Katra Sadatganj have little choice in the matter . `` There 's no toilet . Where can the girls go ? '' shouted Jamuna Devi , one of those who had gathered to mourn the dead girls , as she sat on the mud floor of their home . `` No one has done anything for sanitation , '' she complained . `` We are scared , '' screamed Renu Devi , another of the women consoling the pair 's bereaved mothers . `` If this could happen to them , it could happen with us also . '' WATCH : India outraged by gang rape and murder . The mourners also accuse police of apathy , echoing concerns raised over and over again by human rights groups and activists concerning the handling of cases by India 's law enforcement officers . Most of the country 's policing system is based on the 19th-century , colonial-era Indian Penal Code ( IPC ) , designed in the wake of an armed uprising against British rule in 1857 . In its 2009 report , U.S.-based Human Rights Watch reported that Indian police forces have yet to evolve from the IPC 's original pattern of behavior . Authorities have acknowledged in past years that the country 's police have also been under-staffed and under-resourced . Katra Sadatganj 's police station has been temporarily shut down after the attack drew national and international attention . Two of its officers are among five people who have been arrested in connection with the schoolgirls ' deaths . The arrests so far notwithstanding , the murdered girls ' families are unforgiving about the police 's response to the case . `` If police wanted , my daughter would have been alive today , '' the father of the eldest victim wailed .
Katra Sadatganj , Uttar Pradesh , is the Indian village where two cousins were raped and hanged . Residents blame a cocktail of issues for the attack , which has drawn international headlines . Poor sanitation , underdevelopment , and apathetic police have all played a part , they say . Five men , including two police officers , have been arrested in connection with the deaths .