MAINPURI, INDIA : Fears are mounting for the survival of a 15-year-old girl who is fighting for her life in a hospital in northern India after being allegedly set on fire by a family member who is also suspected of raping her.
According to police officials, an 18-year-old male and his mother were detained on Monday in Uttar Pradesh state on suspicion of trying to kill a pregnant girl by dousing her in kerosene and lighting her ablaze. The incident stunned the nation.She is judgmental. According to the girl’s mother, doctors are trying to save her but there may not be a chance for success.
According to Dr. S.P. Singh, medical director at the University of Medical Sciences, which is caring for the youngster, she has burns on nearly 80% of her body.He declared, “She is not yet safe.According to the most recent government statistics, India reports one rape every 17 minutes.
Campaigners claim the girl’s tragedy demonstrates how deeply ingrained patriarchal and misogynistic beliefs are in the 1.3 billion-person nation. The issue is made worse in rural India where the stigma associated with sexual assault is pervasive and women continue to be largely uneducated.
The alleged assault
According to Kamlesh Kumar Dixit, a senior police official in Uttar Pradesh, and the girl’s mother, the girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by her 18-year-old cousin about three months ago, and as a result, she became pregnant.
The youngster, like many others who have experienced sexual assault, chose not to notify her mother about the alleged attack and instead chose to remain silent.After finding out about the pregnancy, the victim’s mother consented to marry her alleged attacker.
“My sister-in-law, who is the mother of the alleged rapist, said they would pay for an abortion and arrange for the couple to wed. We resolved the issue because we are related, the girl’s mother stated, adding that she now wants the suspected rapist to be executed.
In India, where sexual assault and unwed pregnancies are seen with a “strong feeling of shame and disgrace,” the concept of a victim marrying her accused rapist is not unheard of.
