Protests spark after Indian girl is gang-raped and burned alive

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Protests sparked in eastern Indian city of Kolkata following reports of death of a teenager who was gang-raped twice in October by more than six men and was set on fire two months later by the accomplices of the accused.

According to police, the 16-year-old was assaulted first on October 26 and then again the day after by a group of more than six men in Madhyagram town, about 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of Kolkata.

The victim was sexually assaulted for the second time as she returned home after reporting the first attack at a police station.

She was set on fire on December 23 and succumbed to her wounds in a hospital on January 1.

According to a local policeman, the girl gave the police a dying declaration in front of the health officials that she was set on fire by two persons close to the accused when she was alone at home on December 23.

The first arrests of the accused rapists were made two months later to the attack, on Wednesday.

The victim’s father, a Bihari migrant taxi driver alleged that his daughter was set on fire by the accused to hide their crimes.

The report of the brutal crime incited hundreds of activists on Wednesday who protested in the city to condemn the attack and demanded strict penalties for the rapists.