A 30-year-old woman has died after allegedly being gang raped and set ablaze in a temple, according to police in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
All five accused, two of whom remain on the run from the law, have been identified as family members of the victim.
The incident is reported to have happened during the early hours of Saturday when the woman and her 10-year-old daughter were at home in Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh.
Her husband told police that five men barged into their house when he was away in Ghaziabad near the national capital, New Delhi. He alleged that they gang-raped his wife and later dragged her to a nearby temple and set her ablaze.
“The victim called her cousin for help after she was assaulted. We have identified the accused who set her on fire inside the temple and they will be arrested soon,” Superintendent of Police RM Bharadwaj told ABP News.
People holds play card against recent incidents of rape in the country, in Mumbai, India. Source: AAP
“We have the evidence against these men. The victim also said she was humiliated by the accused,” he added.
Police, however, said they couldn’t confirm the woman was gang-raped until the forensic report was available.
In his complaint to police, the victim's husband alleged that after she was gang-raped, his wife called her cousin to inform them about the incident. It was also alleged that the woman called the police for help before she was burnt alive but her phone call went unanswered.
However, the state police denied that such a call was made.
A participant has the words "not in my name" painted on face during a protest against two reported rape cases in India Source: AAP
The state government suspended the Superintendent of Police of Sambhal district for negligence in discharging the official duty in dealing with crimes against women.
Police have so far arrested three of the five accused after various police teams raided the possible hideouts of the accused.
Statistics from India's National Crime Bureau, show that there were over 338,000 cases of crimes against women registered in 2016.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, several parliamentarians in India are facing charges related to sexual crimes. It claims that out of 768 MPs, 48 declared that they faced charges for crimes against women.
In April this year, a member of the state legislative assembly of Madhya Pradesh, belonging to India's ruling BJP was arrested over rape charges.
