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Indian girl dies after being raped, set on fire

Jesse Singal and Melanie Eversley
USA TODAY
Indian women participate in a silent procession to mourn the death of a gang-rape victim, in Gauhati, India, on Dec. 29.
  • Girl was returning from visit to a farm with older sister when three men approached
  • When the girl threatened to tell villagers%2C she was set on fire
  • The girl%27s sister ran off to get help%2C but by then%2C victim was severely burned

A girl believed to be 13 was gang raped by three men in her village in India and set on fire, according to various news reports.

She later died at a hospital after receiving burns over 80% of her body, the Times of India reports.

The girl was from a village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the Daily Mail reports.

The IB Times reports she was in eighth grade.

The girl had gone to a farm with her older sister and as they returned home, three villagers dragged her away and raped her, the Times reports the girl's family told police.

The girl told the alleged assailants she would tell other villagers, at which point, they set her on fire, the news organization reports.

The girl's older sister ran off to get help, but by the time the girl's family and neighbors arrived at the spot, she had suffered massive burns.

Kavita Krishnan, of the All India Progressive Women's Association, said that in India, in many cases, it is automatically assumed that a woman's complaint of rape is false if she's not dead or dying.

"Of course it continues to be a huge problem, and I think part of the trouble is the fact that there's been little accountability in the police system," she said. "In terms of the police response, even to this incident, apparently it is has been to point suspicion toward the girl's family."

Police are now in search of the suspects, the Times reports.

Last year, a 23-year-old woman was brutally gang raped in New Delhi and thrown from a moving bus, later dying from her injuries. Six others on the bus, including the driver, raped her. Five of the defendants were convicted and one died in custody.

Similar cases are emerging around India and drawing attention to the issue of safety for women and girls there. In one case, the parents of a 4-year-old girl said a distant relative raped the child. Police said the girl had been tortured and assaulted.

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