PROTESTERS CLASH WITH POLICE AFTER CREMATION OF GANG RAPE VICTIM
NEW DELHI/ LUCKNOW Protests erupted in several parts of India on Wednesday after the authorities had the body of a gang rape victim cremated at a ceremony her family said took place without their permission.
The 19- year- old victim from the Dalit community — the lowest rung of India’s ancient caste system — was attacked and raped on Sept. 14 in a field near her home in Hathras district, 100 km from New
Delhi, authorities said.
She died in hospital on Tuesday. Police have arrested four men in connection with the rape.
“We were put behind the barricades they formed using the police force. We could not even see the face of our dead sister,” the victim’s brother said.
Praveen Kumar Laxar, a district magistrate, denied that the cremation had taken place without the family’s permission. Police and government officials did not respond to requests for comment.
The rape has caused outrage in India, where violence against women and those of lower castes is endemic. Protesters in the Uttar Pradesh city of Hathras were met by police who charged them with batons, a witness said.
Angry protesters, many wearing masks to ward off the coronavirus, scuffled with police in New Delhi.