Dubai: A 14-year-old Indian girl was gang raped and burnt to death in her makeshift room in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India, last Friday.
She belonged to the Dalit community, which is considered the most disadvantaged caste in India’s caste-based social system.
Her charred body was found on May 24 at her home, near a brick kiln where she and her family worked, according to a report by news magazine India Today.
Her family alleged that the Indian administration is trying to cover up the incident and police is yet to make any arrests. According to local media reports, seven people have been suspected of committing the crime and booked.
As per the India Today report, the incident occurred after her parents left for their village following the mother falling ill. The girl and her 12-year-old brother were left alone at home.
After the incident occurred, her parents were informed and they came home to her charred body.
The girl’s father claimed that the police is framing the death to look like it was due to an accidental fire.
The Indian Express newspaper quoted her father as saying: “There was a pile of clothes inside the room. It appears that they set fire to the clothes to make it look like an accident. There is no electricity in the room. Nothing combustible was inside either. How can they say it was fire?”
According to a report by the Indian Express, Police claimed that when the family initially filed a complaint against the brick kiln owner and others, on May 26, they did not report it as a gang rape.
Social media outrage
Social media users expressed their anger towards the incident online.
Twitter user @NitashaKaul expressed that violence against women needs to stop: “#Dalit girl raped and set on fire in #India. How can such #misogynist terror be so rampant, and so little be done globally to combat this gruesome and systematic #violence against #women!”
Whereas, tweep @Nil_entrao5 discussed the caste system in India: “Unstoppable crime in India - Rape. A 14-year-old girl was allegedly raped and later burnt to death by seven men in Muzaffarnagar. Again a Dalit has been raped, is casteism a part of our human body?”
Organisations involved
Police have said that the National Commission for Scheduled Castes has taken notice of the case, according to the Indian Express report.
Furthermore, the Bhim Army, a Dalit-run organisation in India has come out to protest and say that police is trying to hush up the matter, reported India Today.
The same report mentioned that the family is unsure of why the girl was targeted but they hope for justice to be served.
