High-profile rape cases shock India
NEW DELHI – Days after an alleged gangrape victim was set on fire, a note was left at the family home of an 18-year-old set to testify in her own case against a man she had accused of rape.
“Consequences may be worse than what happened in Unnao,” the note read, alluding to the city in northern India where a woman was allegedly doused with gasoline and set ablaze by five men, including two she had accused of gang rape who were out on bail.
The teen and her family took the note to police. The accused man was arrested in July, 2018 on the rape charge and was quickly released on bail. He was taken back into custody on Saturday, according to police constable Sudhir Bhati. Sexual violence against women and girls is so common in India, the case was given only a few lines in one of the country’s leading dailies.
There have been several high-profile rape cases that have shocked the country in recent weeks, including the woman in Unnao, who was about to board a train for a court hearing in her case when she was allegedly set on fire earlier this month.
The latest incidents come around the seventh anniversary of a gang rape on a moving bus in New Delhi that galvanised massive protests and inspired lawmakers to order the creation of fast-track courts dedicated to rape cases and stiffen penalties for those convicted of the crime.
In India, gruesome reports of rape and retaliatory killing are hauntingly familiar, and whether a report of rape rises above the din is largely determined by class and caste dynamics.