Teenager raped, burned to death in India
May 5, 2018
Fourteen people were detained Saturday over the alleged rape and murder of a 16-year-old girl in India's eastern Jharkhand state, officials said.
The crime is the latest in a string of brutal assaults against young girls in India, despite moves to toughen laws punishing sexual violence.
Read more: Horrific cases exemplify India's grotesque rape problem
What authorities allege
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Officials said a group of men abducted the teenager from the Chatra district on Thursday, took her to a remote area and raped her.
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The girl's father then complained to the village council, which ordered the accused to pay a fine of 50,000 rupees (€625; $750) and do 100 situps.
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The suspects allegedly returned the next day to beat up the girl's family members before pouring kerosene on her and setting her on fire.
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Medical tests are being conducted to confirm the sexual assault.
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Fourteen people are in custody, but police say other key suspects are still on the run.
Read more: Opinion: Rape becomes a political tool in India
Calls for justice: The issue of sexual violence in India has received widespread attention since the fatal gang rape of a young medical student on a bus in the capital, New Delhi, in 2012. The brutal crime highlighted the issue of women's safety in the South Asian nation and prompted changes to laws governing sexual crimes. In recent months, the country has again been shaken by a series of violent sexual assaults against young girls, including the rape and murder of an 8-year-old in Jammu and Kashmir. The cases have led to an outpouring of public anger, with mass protests demanding the perpetrators face justice.
Read more: Rape and murder of eight-year-old divides Jammu and Kashmir
Frequent attacks: According to official statistics, around 40,000 rape cases were reported in India in 2016. That amounts to over 100 per day, but many more incidents are believed to go unreported. About 40 percent of the cases involve child rape.
Read more: #MeToo in India: 'Women's rights need more than just a social media campaign'
Harsher punishment: Last month, India's government approved stricter punishments for sexual violence against young girls, including the death penalty for those convicted of raping children under the age of 12. They also backed doubling the jail term for someone convicted of raping an adult to 20 years and required rape investigations and trials be fast-tracked. This follows laws passed in 2012 and 2013 that criminalized voyeurism and stalking following a brutal gang rape in a Delhi bus.
nm/jm (AP, AFP, dpa)
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