Another teen girl is raped, burned in India

A second girl was raped and set ablaze in the eastern India state of Jharkhand, a day after another teen was gang raped and later burned to death by her attackers after they were fined for the assault.

The gruesome attacks are the latest in a long line of publicized sexual assaults that have prompted protests and demands for more stringent laws across the nation of 1.3 billion people.

Police said the latest victim was in critical condition with burns over 95% of her body after being raped by a local youth Friday near a police station in Pakur. Police learned of the attack Saturday from a relative of the victim.

Police Chief Shailendra Prasad Barnwal said the suspect had a history of attacking the 17-year-old girl. He said the two cases did not appear connected.

In the earlier case, police said the 16year-old was raped and then burned to death Thursday in Rajatenduwa. The girl’s family was in the village to take part in a marriage ceremony when she was forced into a nearby forest and assaulted, police said.

A village tribunal was convened and found 14 people guilty of the assault, police Inspector General Ashish Batra told the Times of India. The village leaders then ordered the men to do push-ups and fined them about $750.

“Irked by the verdict, the accused got into an altercation with the (tribunal) and the family members of the girl,” Batra said.

He said the accused then doused the teen’s house with kerosene. The victim’s mother tried to stop them, but the assailants beat her up. “They rushed to the girl’s house and set it ablaze,” he said. She was hiding in the house and burned to death, Batra said.