A 17-year-old battled for her life May 7 after being raped, doused in kerosene and set on fire, the second such case to shake India as it battles an increase in sexual crimes.
The teenager was attacked on the same day and in the same eastern state of Jharkhand as a 16-year-old who was raped and burned to death.
“The girl has suffered 70 percent first-degree burns. There is a chance that she will survive,” Shailendra Barnwal, police superintendent of Pakur district, told AFP.
Police have arrested a 19-year-old man who lives in the same neighborhood as the latest victim.
“He poured kerosene on the girl and set her on fire,” Barnwal said.
The incident happened on May 4, the same day as the similar case in Jharkhand’s Chatra district, which 15 people have been detained over.
The main suspect in the first case is said to have been angered by a village council decision that he should do 100 sit-ups and pay a $750 fine for raping the girl, and attacked the girl’s parents and set their house on fire with the teenager inside.
As many as 578 rape cases were reported up to April 15, against 563 in 2017 during the same period, police said.
Indian authorities have faced renewed pressure to act over sexual assault since the killing of the Muslim girl in Jammu.
Amid mounting outrage, the government has changed the law to allow execution for child rapists.
Source: Hurriyet Daily News
