A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD girl has been allegedly gang-raped by two boys in the latest despicable sex attack to rock India.
The young girl was lured away by the pair – aged just seven and eight – when she was having a bath, the victim’s distraught family claim.
EPAWomen in India demonstrating against the rise of sexual violence in the country after a string of attacks[/caption]
AlamyThousands attended ‘Reclaim the Night’ marches in August with signs demanding justice and a change to how rape allegations are dealt with[/caption]
Both boys have been accused of then raping her in the city of Ballia, in Uttar Pradesh, on Friday, say local media.
Following the alleged attack the victim’s health is said to have quickly worsened and she was rushed to hospital, police said.
She is believed to be recovering with her injuries not being life threatening.
Both boys were arrested and taken to the police station to be questioned.
They reportedly both admitted to gang raping the girl to police.
India has a chilling history with barbaric rape stories.
Women in the country have started to take a stand against the rising number of sexual crimes with thousands taking to the streets last month.
“Reclaim The Night” marches took place in several major cities in August as the women demanded something was done to make them feel safer.
The demonstrations were organised after a trainee doctor was senselessly raped and murdered at a state-run hospital in Calcutta.
The victim, 31, was resting in a room in the hospital when she was attacked as officials originally discredited the idea she was murdered.
It was later revealed she was raped as the principal of the medical college Dr Sandip Ghosh even blamed the woman for what happened to her.
He said her sleeping in the room alone was “irresponsible”.
A man has since been arrested in connection to the murder.
In May, two brothers who raped a 14-year-old girl before burning her alive were sentenced to death in a landmark case in the country.
Vile monsters, identified as Kalu, 25, and Kanha Kalbeliya, 21, were found guilty of rape and murder in the horrific incident.
Months earlier a gang of men were hauled into court after being accused of raping and assaulting a woman as her husband was forced to watch.
Spanish–Brazilian Fernanda, 31, says she was assaulted in horrifying shift patterns over the course of two harrowing hours on a trip to India as her partner was held at knifepoint.
Inside India’s sexual violence epidemic
BY Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter
The world’s largest democracy is plagued by sexual violence – especially against women – and rape is the fourth most common crime that is reported in India.
According to official statistics, more than 30,000 cases were registered in the country in 2021 – an average of 80 cases in a single day.
And this is when most of the rape incidents go unreported because the victims fear retaliation and humiliation, something seen very commonly in India.
Various human rights groups and NGOs say that women who belong to the lowest level of India’s centuries-old caste hierarchy system are most vulnerable to rape and other forms of physical and sexual violence.
They believe men from the dominant caste groups often attack these women to re-establish repressive gender rules.
However, India’s struggle with rape also stems from the country’s extremely patriarchal society which often gives more importance to men.
The gender issues caused by this are believed to be one of the major reasons behind such atrocious acts against women.
While this is absolutely true in most of the rural areas in India – sadly – it is also the case in urban cities and developed areas in the country.
The biggest example of this would be the 2012 Delhi Gang rape and murder – commonly known as the Nirbahaya Case – where a 22-year-old woman travelling in a bus with her partner was beaten, gang-raped and tortured by six men, including the bus driver.
While she was rushed to one of the biggest hospitals in India – and was later airlifted to Singapore – the woman later died of the severe injuries that were inflicted by the attackers.
The main attacker among the six – who inflicted the fatal wound to the girl – boldly confessed he does not regret doing what he did.
This was the case that shook the nation – so much so that millions of people took to the public streets in New Delhi to protest against the weak rape laws.
Fourteen years since the incident, not much has changed in the country that still reports an overwhelming number of rape cases every single day.
