Five persons allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl and burnt her alive in front of her family on Friday at Rajatenduwa village in Chatra district of Jharkhand. The accused forcibly took the minor girl, who was on her way to attend a relative’s marriage ceremony, to a nearby forest and raped her.
IGP Ashish Batra said, “A local village panchayat was convened which found all five accused guilty. The village leaders then levied a Rs 50,000 fine on the culprits. Irked by the verdict, the accused got into an altercation with the panchayat members and the family members of the girl. Later, they rushed to the girl’s house and set it ablaze. The girl was burned to death in the fire.” The accused have fled the village after the incident and police are conducting raids to nab the absconders.
Prasanta Patnaik