Indian rape victim dies weeks after assault, hundreds protest at hospital

LUCKNOW/NEW DELHI, India - A woman from the lowest rung of India’s caste system died on Tuesday weeks after authorities said she was raped by a group of men, triggering protests in New Delhi with hundreds gathering at the hospital where her body lay. Her case was the latest in a string of gruesome crimes against women in India that have given it the dismal reputation of being one of the worst places in the world to be female. Every 15 minutes on average, a woman in India is reported raped, according to 2018 government data released this year. “There is next to no protection for women. Criminals are openly committing crimes,” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a leader of the opposition Congress party, said on Twitter. The 19-year-old victim, belonging to the Dalit community, was attacked and raped Sept 14 at a field near her home in Hathras district, 100 km (62-mile) from Delhi, authorities said. Police have arrested four men in connection with the crime. On Monday, the woman was brought from a hospital in Uttar Pradesh state to New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, where she died while undergoing treatment, authorities said.

from Asia
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