Third Indian teen raped, burned alive in one week
A 16-year-old girl has been raped and burned alive in central India - the third such incident to shake the country over the past week.
Police said Friday that the sexual assault took place in Jujharpur village in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh state.
The girl's cousin informed the main accused that the victim was at home alone, and then the accused barged in and raped her, according to police reports.
The 26-year-old attacker, identified as Ravi Chadhar, poured kerosene on her and set the girl alight after the victim said she would tell her family about what had happened.
"We have arrested the two accused. One of them is the cousin of the girl who informed the main suspect that she was alone in the house," said Sagar district police superintendent Satyendra Kumar Shukla. "The main accused is married with a child.”
The girl's father said the family had gone to attend a wedding in a nearby village when the incident occurred.
Two other similar assaults took place in India's northeastern state of Jharkhand this week.
Another 16-year-old girl was burnt alive inside her home in Chatra district, allegedly by men who had gang raped her the night before. The victim's family said the four men, allegedly drunk, kidnapped her from her house, took her to a deserted spot and raped her.
Also, a 17-year-old girl, who is fighting for her life in hospital with severe burn injuries, was raped when she was alone at home and set on fire by a man from her village in Jharkhand's Pakur district.
The South Asian country is no stranger to such violent incidents. About 40,000 cases of rape were reported in India in 2016. However, many cases are believed to remain unreported.
One of the worst cases, which made headlines across the world, occurred in New Delhi back in 2012 when a student was gang raped and murdered in New Delhi. The incident led to new anti-rape laws.
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