A girl who was allegedly brutally attacked and gang-raped has died in hospital. The 16-year-old girl was found semi-conscious in a field in Firozabad, India, after being left by the three men who believed she was already dead. The postmortem confirmed sexual assault, a broken neck, a crushed jaw and fractured limbs.
According to the police, one of the accused, who had known her for the past few months, lured her to a nearby field. When the victim resisted, the three men allegedly strangled her and crushed her limbs and jaw.
All three accused, aged 20, 21 and 28, and from the same neighbourhood, have been arrested. Two were held after a brief encounter on the night of November 1, and the third the next day. Police said they confessed during questioning.
A First Information Report (FIR) was initially filed for attempted murder, gang rape of a minor, abduction, and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (SC/ST).
Firozabad SSP Aditya Langesh said the case would be pursued on priority under ‘Operation Conviction’ and that action would also be taken under the Gangsters Act. The family has been assured compensation.
Women across Indian universities have been protesting about the rape crisis within the country. Hundreds of women walked from their university campus onto the streets of Delhi to speak out against the sexual harassment, assault, and molestation plaguing the city.
The protests in September came after a series of brutal rapes that took place in Delhi, including the alleged gang-rape of a 17-year-old public park by three men impersonating police officers, The Guardian reports.
According to official data from India’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), approximately 31,000 to 32,000 registered rape cases are reported in India per year, translating to an average of about 86 reported cases per day.
