Man rapes 16-year-old girl, burns her alive in Jharkhand

The village Panchayat had asked the accused to pay ₹50,000 to the victim to settle the matter, but they thrashed the family members and burnt the girl to death.

A minor girl was allegedly raped and later burnt alive by a man and his henchmen in Chatra district on Friday.

People take part in Not In My Name protest against the rape case in Unnao and Kathua, at Parliament Street, New Delhi, on April 15. (Arvind Yadav/HT File Photo)

The accused were allegedly enraged after the village panchayat imposed a penalty of ₹50,000 on them on Friday for raping the girl the night before, the police said.

Before setting the Class 8 student on fire on Friday, the accused and his henchmen brutally thrashed the girl’s parents during a hearing at the kangaroo court, forcing them to run for their life, eyewitnesses told the police.

The incident took place at Raja Kendua village under the Itkhori police station in Chatra district soon after the kangaroo court, convened by the local Mukhiya and others, passed the order to pay a fine to the girl’s family and asked the accused to do sit-ups, police said quoting the villagers.

According to the family members of the 16-year-old victim, the accused had earlier abducted the victim from her cousin’s home and raped her before letting her go. The girl had gone to attend a marriage ceremony at her cousin’s home on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

“However, when we returned after half an hour, we found our daughter burnt and dead inside our home,” he added.

Deputy superintendent of police Pitamber Singh Kherwar said, “The panchayat was convened to settle the issue on Friday when the accused and others thrashed the girl’s parents and set the girl on fire. She died on the spot.”

The police have launched a man-hunt to nab the culprits, he added.