Minor raped, burnt alive in Jharkhand

DALTONGANJ: A minor girl was allegedly raped and later burnt alive by the accused and his henchmen who were apparently enraged over the village panchayat imposing a penalty of ₹50,000 on them on Friday for the crime committed the night before in Chatra district, the police said.

Before setting the Class 8 student on fire on Friday, the accused and his henchmen brutally thrashed the girl’s parents during the hearing at the kangaroo court, forcing them to run for their life, eyewitnesses told the police. The horrifying incident took place at Raja Kendua village under the Itkhori police station in Chatra district soon after the kangaroo court, convened by the local Mukhiya and others on Friday, had passed an order to pay a fine to the girl’s family and asked the accused to do sit-ups, police said quoting the villagers.

According to the family members of the 16-year-old victim, the accused had earlier abducted the victim from her cousin’s home and raped her before letting her go. The girl had gone to attend a marriage ceremony at her cousin’s home in the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

The deceased’s father said, “After the incident, we approached the village elders who suggested holding a panchayat in the village on Friday morning to decide the punishment. When the panchayat imposed a cash penalty of ₹50,000, the accused and his men got infuriated and started thrashing us. We ran away to save our lives. However, when we returned after half an hour, we found our daughter burnt and dead inside our home.”

ENRAGED OVER THE PANCHAYAT DIKTAT TO PAY ₹50,000 AS FINE FOR THE RAPE, THE MEN SET HER ON FIRE