THE WORLD TODAY

Fury at death of teen who was gang raped

THE gang rape and death of a woman from the lowest rung of India’s caste system has sparked outrage across the country, with politicians and activists demanding justice and protesters rallying on the streets.

The 19- year- old is the latest victim of sexual violence against women in India, where reports of rape are hauntingly familiar.

The woman, who belonged to the Dalit community, was raped by four men on September 14 in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh state.

The woman’s family told local media they found her naked, bleeding and paralysed in a field outside their home. She died two weeks later, on Tuesday, after battling serious injuries in hospital in New Delhi.

Police said four men from an upper caste have been arrested.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath yesterday ordered a special investigation team to handle the case and said it will be tried in a fast- track court.

In New Delhi, police detained several women after they tried to march in the street shouting slogans against Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The demonstrators carried placards that read: “Stop rape culture.”

Earlier on Tuesday, hundreds of protesters from the Bhim Army, a party championing the rights of Dalits, thronged the hospital site in New Delhi and jostled with police.

Party leader Chandrashekhar Aazad asked Dalits across the country to flood the streets to demand the perpetrators be hanged.

Dalits – formerly known as “untouchables” and at the bottom of an unforgiving Hindu caste hierarchy in India – are victims of thousands of attacks each year.