25-year-old woman nearly killed resisting sexual assault attempt by nephew's group
12-year-old girl repeatedly raped by three underage cousin brothers, becomes pregnant
Lower-class women face widespread gang rapes by upper-class men
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (center) is participating in a protest against the 'Uttar Pradesh gang rape case' held in New Delhi city on the 2nd (local time). Last month, public outrage surged after a 19-year-old girl from the lowest Dalit caste in northern Uttar Pradesh was gang-raped and assaulted by four upper-caste men and later died while receiving treatment. Amid this, the Delhi Chief Minister personally joined the protest on this day, demanding that the perpetrators be sentenced to death by hanging. Source = Yonhap News Agency
[Asia Economy Reporter Nahana] Amid a series of incidents across India where women from the lowest caste (Dalit) have died due to gang rape and assault, a 25-year-old woman nearly died after resisting an attempted sexual assault by her nephew and his group.
According to the Indian daily Hindustan Times on the 10th, on the 9th, the victim was traveling by car with her nephew and his group when they attempted to sexually assault her on the Agra-Lucknow highway in Unnao district, Uttar Pradesh state, northern India.
At the time, the woman desperately resisted, but the nephew and his group assaulted her, and one of them tried to strangle her to death using a belt. The woman lost consciousness, and the nephew’s group, thinking she was dead, threw her out of the car. It is reported that she was seriously injured in the process and nearly died.
Fortunately, she was accidentally found near a road in a village called Bli Kera by employees of the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) and was able to survive.
Anand Kulkarni, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Unnao, said, "The woman is receiving treatment at a hospital, and the accused have been arrested."
The police also reported that on the same day, in a village in the Pilibhit district of the same state, a 5-year-old girl was suspected to have been sexually assaulted. It is said to have happened when the child went outside briefly out of boredom.
In addition, in the Navsari area of western Gujarat state, a case surfaced where a 12-year-old girl was continuously sexually assaulted by three underage cousin brothers for five months, resulting in pregnancy.
Also in the Navsari area, on the 3rd, a 13-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a cousin’s friend. The cousin’s friend took the girl on a motorcycle to a secluded place and sexually assaulted her.
On the 14th of last month, in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, a 19-year-old Dalit girl was gang-raped and assaulted by four upper-caste men. She died on the 29th of the same month while receiving treatment. On the same day, another Dalit woman died after being raped and assaulted by two men. These incidents sparked protests across India demanding the eradication of sexual assault and strict punishment for the perpetrators.
However, related crimes have not decreased significantly. It is reported that the low conviction rate is the cause. In fact, the conviction rates for rape cases were only 27.2% and 27.8% in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
According to statistics from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) cited by the Times of India, 88 cases of sexual assault are reported daily in India. Considering India’s conservative culture, experts point out that the actual number of unreported crimes is likely much higher.
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