India: Teenage girl battles for life in ICU after 4 men gang-rape in Uttar Pradesh

Recently, the incident of alleged gang rape of a 19-year-old girl by four upper-caste men has come to light in Hathras district from the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The woman belonged to a Dalit community (Dalit is a caste defined in the Indian Constitution under Article 341, listed as the Scheduled Castes). The accused also attempted to murder the woman by strangling her, which left her battling for her life at Aligarh Medical College hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for several days, reportedly.

The victim's condition is said to be stable now, but she is still being administered care in the ICU. Subsequently, police have recorded her statement on Tuesday. She stated that the accused sexually assaulted her on September 14 when she went to gather fodder for cattle.

Based on the complaint lodged by the victim's brother, police had earlier registered a case against a man, who was later identified as Sandeep, for an attempt to murder and under sections of the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe (SC/ST) Act according to the Indian Penal Code. However, after recording her statement on Tuesday, police added charges of gang-rape to the First Information Report.

Confirming the incident, Hathras district superintendent of police, Vikrant Veer said: "Another accused has been caught, and others will be arrested soon."

According to the Indian news reports, police have arrested two of the four accused, and efforts are on to arrest others.