Girl, 16, raped, set ablaze by rapists

A girl, 16, a victim of gang-raping, was set ablaze by two men after the sexual assault in India. Police said she died later in hospital.

The girl was identified as a Dalit, the lowest rung in the Hindu caste system who suffer high levels of sexual violence in India and high rates of crime against women.

The rape victim was said to have died on Monday, less than one week two Dalit sisters, aged 15 and 17, were found hanging from a tree after suffering sexual assault and, thereafter, murdered by six men.

The illicit acts were said to occur in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

Local police chief Dinesh Kumar Prabhu was cited to have said, “We arrested the accused within two hours of the incident being reported and assured the family of proper follow-up action against the perpetrators.”