Violence against women in India still rife after teenager raped and then set alight
A 15-year-old girl from a village outside of Delhi has been raped and set on fire at her family’s home, police have reported.
On Sunday night, the attacker allegedly broke into the girl’s home where he assaulted the victim.
At around 2.30am, the girl’s parents say they heard her screaming from the terrace of their home and when they ran upstairs, they found her on fire.
Screaming in agony, the girl repeatedly named her stalker – a 20-year-old from the same village.
Constable Yadram Singh, of Bisrakh police station, confirmed that a 20-year-old man was arrested for allegedly raping and attempting to burn the girl to death on Monday in Tigri village, near Delhi.
Singh said the man had burns on his hands and was charged with several offences including attempted murder, rape, assault of a minor and causing grievous injury.
The girl is being treated in Safdarjung hospital in Delhi after being brought there in a critical condition with severe burns over most of her body, Singh said.
The girl is so severely burnt that doctors say they are finding it difficult to examine or treat her.
“She is on a high dose of antibiotics and is being administered fluids. We are trying to control the spread of infection in her blood which can lead to multi-organ failure,” a doctor was quoted in reports as saying.
Indian newspapers reported she was suffering from burns on 95 per cent of her body.
Violence against women still persists in India, despite a public outcry three years ago that led to stronger laws to prevent sexual assault.
Since the fatal gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a Delhi bus in 2012 triggered national anger, demands have been made internationally that more be done to protect India’s women.
The government rushed through laws to double prison sentences for rape, and to criminalise voyeurism, stalking and the trafficking of women.
