Eight Assailants Gang-Rape 19-Year-Old Bride... India in Uproar Again

Wandering the Streets Due to Family Opposition, Then Attacked

A gang rape incident targeting newlyweds occurred in Kolkata, West Bengal, India.

Protest against the 'sexual assault and murder of Suryun' held in Mumbai, India, on August 16. The photo is not directly related to the article content. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 31st of last month (local time), local media such as Times of India and Indian Express reported that on the 30th, eight assailants gang-raped a 19-year-old woman near the railway tracks by the Kalyani Barakpur Highway in Kanchirapara, Kolkata, West Bengal.

The eight assailants attacked a newlywed couple walking along the train tracks around 4 to 5 a.m. on the day of the incident, assaulting the husband and dragging the wife away to gang-rape her. The victim couple had been driven out by family members opposing their marriage and were trying to spend the night at Kanchirapara train station but were also chased away from there, wandering the streets when the attack occurred.

After the incident, the police received a report from the victim woman and arrested and detained the eight assailants. Police investigations revealed that the victim and suspects were strangers to each other, and all suspects were identified as daily wage laborers from Kanchirapara. Local police are investigating the circumstances of the crime and whether there were accomplices, and plan to verify the suspects' identities and request detention hearings on the 4th.

India is notorious for being a country plagued by sexual crimes to the extent of being dubbed the "rape republic." According to Indian government statistics, 31,500 rape cases were reported in 2022 alone.

In August, a female medical intern working at a national hospital in Kolkata was raped and murdered. The victim reportedly stopped by a seminar room inside the hospital to rest after dinner when the incident occurred. Police arrested one hospital staff member as a suspect, but the victim’s family raised the possibility of gang rape.

This incident led to a doctors' strike. Interns began protests demanding a thorough investigation. They entered a collective strike, urging the state government to strengthen hospital security for doctors’ safety, including installing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

The Indian government amended the penal code to allow the death penalty for rapists, but criticism remains that sexual assaults against women continue unabated.