A third teenage girl has been raped and burned alive in a week in India, the latest brutal sexual assault to shock the country.

The 16-year-old died from the burns after being set alight by a 26-year-old man who acted after the young woman said she would tell her family about the rape.

Two other teenagers were victims of similar attacks a week earlier in Jharkhand state. One died and one is fighting for her life in hospital.

The latest teenager was alone at her home in Sagar district of Madhya Pradesh state when she was raped, police said on Friday.

“We have arrested the two accused. One of them is the cousin of the girl who informed the main suspect that she was alone in the house,” said Sagar district police superintendent Satyendra Kumar Shukla.

“The main accused is married with a child,” Kumar told AFP.

Indian authorities have faced renewed pressure to act on sexual assaults, notably after brutal gang rape and killing of an eight-year-old Muslim girl in Jammu and Kashmir state sparked demonstrations.

The cases are the most high-profile since the 2012 rape and murder of a student on a New Delhi bus that triggered mass protests.

Opinion

Editorial

Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.
Concerning measures
Updated 03 Nov, 2024

Concerning measures

The govt must seek political input and consensus on the changes it is seeking to make and be open about its intentions.
Short-lived relief?
03 Nov, 2024

Short-lived relief?

POLICYMAKERS must be jumping with joy. At the close of the first quarter of FY25, the budget posted a consolidated...
Brisk spread
03 Nov, 2024

Brisk spread

THE surge in polio cases has reached distressing levels with a tally of 45 last reported, after two cases emerged in...