In India, hundreds of people took to the streets to protest the death of a 16-year-old rape victim who was set on fire. The victim was gang-raped in October. The next day, she was gang-raped again while returning from the police station after reporting the crime. Her family said they faced constant harassment from the rapists. Last week, the victim, who was pregnant, was set on fire, reportedly by two of her attackers. She died this week after identifying the men. At a protest Thursday, a lawmaker blamed authorities in the state of West Bengal.
Brinda Karat: “I stress that the government is answerable for the girl, who would have been present among us today if the West Bengal administration had exercised the laws properly. We do not seek anything else. But where is the law? A girl was gang-raped twice, and still you are unable to punish the accused. Why?”
The young woman’s death came two days after the first anniversary of the death of another woman who was gang-raped on a New Delhi bus. That case ignited the country and drew attention to sexual violence around the world.