Second Case of Rape and Burning of a Teenage Girl in Jharkhand, India

The condition of the second teenage girl who was recently raped and then set on fire in Jharkhand, India, is very critical. This is the second case of brutal sexual assaults on teenage girls that has shaken India in recent days. The 17-year-old girl was attacked on Friday, the same day a 16-year-old girl was raped and burned. According to AFP, these two incidents have put the handling of sexual assaults in India under scrutiny. Following gang rapes and the death of an 8-year-old girl in these attacks, the government has come under severe pressure to take stricter action against sexual crimes. Since 2012, when a student was raped and killed on a bus in Delhi, the recent incidents have been among the most significant and newsworthy sexual crimes. A police investigator stated, "70% of this girl's body has suffered first-degree burns. She has been transferred to a well-equipped hospital and may survive." The police have arrested a 19-year-old man who resides in the victim's neighborhood. In connection with the rape of a 16-year-old girl in the Chatra area of the state, 15 people have been arrested so far. It is reported that the main suspect in that case was angry about a village council ruling that sentenced him to pay $750 and perform 100 squats for his crime. He initially attacked the girl's parents and then set their house on fire while the teenage girl was inside. AFP adds that in 2016, about 40,000 cases of rape were reported, but civil activists say the actual number of rapes is higher because victims do not report assaults out of fear of social stigma. Reactions to the painful incident of gang rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir continue. In that case, eight Hindu men are accused of kidnapping, repeatedly raping, and killing this Muslim girl. Hindu activists, holding protest gatherings, claim that the police have been biased in the investigations related to this incident. The Supreme Court of India ordered on Monday that this controversial trial should be held in Punjab, a neighboring state, instead of Jammu, where the majority of the population is Hindu. The victim's family has requested this action, stating they are concerned for their safety. With new statistics from the Indian police indicating that more than five women are raped every day in the capital this year, concerns about women's safety have intensified. Amid rising public anger and disgust over this situation, the government has changed laws to facilitate the issuance and enforcement of death sentences for the rape of children, yet sexual assaults and harassment continue daily. On Monday, a female lawyer from the lower caste Dalit accused a prominent lawyer connected to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of rape and extortion of silence. This woman, who covered her face to conceal her identity, stated at a press conference in Uttar Pradesh, "I am afraid because he has threatened my family. This has happened to me just because I am from the Dalit caste." In protest against the inaction of responsible authorities, she cut her hair at the press conference and threatened to commit suicide if no action was taken against the accused. Recently, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party in this state was arrested last month on charges of kidnapping a woman and raping her.