14-year-old girl dies in second shocking double rape case in India

A 14-year-old girl has died in another case of a lower-caste woman allegedly being raped by the same man twice in India.

The girl was kidnapped in May by the same suspect who allegedly attacked her in December, according to a police report filed by her parents, a senior Delhi police official told CNN.

The suspect was reportedly out on bail while he awaited trial in the first rape case involving the girl.

The girl belonged to the Dalit caste, Swati Maliwal, chairwoman of the Delhi Commission for Women, told CNN. Dalit is the lowest caste in Indian society.
Her parents told police the alleged attacker forced the girl to drink chemicals.


She died Sunday after being admitted to the hospital in June when she fell ill. The suspect was arrested again following her death, police said.

The girl's death comes after brutal details emerged last week of another case of a Dalit student allegedly raped by the same group of men for a second time.

The allegations of the double gang-rape caused an international outcry, raised questions around why the accused were granted bail and highlighted the vulnerability of Dalit women in India.

According to India's National Crime Records Bureau, more than four Dalit women are raped every day, with 2014 statistics saying crime against Dalits rose 19%. In many of the cases, these crimes are committed by perpetrators from an upper caste.

"For centuries, the lower caste (has) been subject to oppression, and one form of suppressing their empowerment has been through violence," Sunitha Krishnan, a rape survivor, activist and mental health specialist, told CNN.

"And to a woman or a child, the worst form of violence you can think of is sexual assault and sex crime."