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Indian rape survivor sexually assaulted again by same men

Tuesday, 19 July 2016 6:20 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 19 July 2016 7:04 AM ]

Indian protesters chant slogans during a demonstration against the rape and murder of a woman in Kochi on May 3, 2016. © AFP

An Indian student has once again been raped by a group of men, including those who were charged with sexually assaulting her three years ago.

Police officials said Monday that the five attackers abducted the 21-year old student in Rohtak town in the northern state of Haryana from outside her college before drugging and raping her in a car last Wednesday.

The woman who is still in hospital has identified all five men.

“I have no idea where they took me. My attackers were the same five men,” she said.

The woman said the men forced her inside a car and tried to strangle her. She was seriously injured and left to die in the bushes. A passerby, however, found her unconscious on the side of a highway.

“I was leaving the college when I saw them,” said the woman. “They were the same five men. I was very afraid. They forced me inside the car…They said they would kill my father and brother.”

According to Haryana deputy superintendent of police Pushpa Khatri, two of the men are currently on bail awaiting trial for raping her in 2013.

“We have formed several teams to arrest the accused,” he added.

The victim’s family said the five threatened them to drop the earlier rape case.

“The accused were constantly threatening us to compromise outside the court,” said the victim’s brother. “They even offered us a hefty amount for settlement. But we didn’t agree. That’s why they have attacked her again.”

Indian police arrest activists as they block a road during a protest against a gang rape in Kolkata on May 31, 2016. © AFP

India has earned notoriety for its history of violence against women, including frequent cases of rape.

According to a Washington Post report, rape cases find an airtime in Indian media, but the outrage is often subdued when the victim belongs to a lower class. It said the unnamed girl who has been raped belongs to the lower class. The men, however, belong to the upper castes.

Nearly four years ago, a 23-year-old medical student was brutally assaulted and gang-raped aboard a moving bus before being thrown out onto the street in New Delhi. She later died of her injuries in the hospital.

In May 2014, attackers raped and strangled two teenage sisters in Uttar Pradesh, hanging their bodies from a tree.

In March, a gang of thieves attacked the Jesus and Mary convent school and church in Ranagaht in the Nadia district of West Bengal. A senior nun, who tried to stop the robbery, was assaulted and raped before the gang fled with the funds set aside for renovation work in the convent school.

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