Patna: Days after the rape and murder of a young veterinary doctor in the south Indian city of Hyderabad, a teenager was allegedly gang-raped and killed, before her body was set on fire, in Bihar state on Tuesday.
The incident comes amid growing calls for tougher laws in the country to deal with rapists.
Reports said some villagers in Buxur district had gone to a field on Tuesday morning when they saw the half-burnt body of a young girl in the field and informed police.
Police sent the body for autopsy.
“The post mortem report says the victim was raped before being killed. The victim was shot in the head by the suspects,” Lalan Singha, a local police official in charge of investigation, told Gulf News over the phone.
He said the victim, believed to be around 16-17 years old, was yet to be identified as the upper portion of her body has been burnt beyond recognition.
“Apparently the attackers set her on fire in a bid to hide her identity and destroy evidence. We are investigating the case and the accused will be caught very soon,” the police official added.
He said police recovered an empty cartridge from the scene of the crime.
The incident comes barely days after another teenager was gang-raped in a moving car in Bihar’s Kaimur district, triggering strong protests leading to promulgation of prohibitory orders.
The victim was looking for transport, to take her home from a coaching class last week, when a driver offered to drop her off.
However, the moment she got inside, some four youths who were sitting inside started sexually assaulting her. According to the victim, the youths took turns to rape her in the moving car. Police have arrested four accused persons and filed charges in the case.
Rape cases have spiralled out of control in Bihar and, according to police records, 5,887 incidents have been reported over the past five years.
This year, a total of 1,165 incidents of rape had been reported as of September, indicating the gravity of the situation.
A series of such incidents have caused panic in the areas with the villagers demanding action to improve the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.
