Chattarpur, Bhopal:
Sandhya Richariya was 18 when she was burnt alive in March 2010 inside her home.
She was allegedly killed by her neighbours in her village - a group of four people - during the day because she had fallen in love with a man from a different caste.
She was rushed to the hospital by her parents and the village Sarpanch. She said four men had poured kerosene over her. Those four men were declared not guilty by a local court a week ago because the police had not got Sandhya's doctor to testify that she was mentally alert and capable of identifying those who murdered her.
Sandhya's family lives in a small hut. Her father works as a daily-wage earner. Her mother is a housewife. She has two siblings. Sandhya dropped out of school after the eighth standard.
When we visit her family outside their house in a dusty, narrow street, her father checks repeatedly to ensure nobody is eavesdropping on our conversation.
Inside, her mother, Ramwati, explains that they have given up hope of ensuring justice for their daughter. ''The villagers said if we want to stay on here, we should not pursue the case.''
In Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh, Sandhya's story is not an uncommon one. This is the one of the country's poorest districts which has been battered by drought in the last decade.
It has also earned a hair-raising record for the maximum brutalities against women with domestic violence and dowry deaths being the most prevalent crimes.
In the last year, 13 young women have been burnt alive, either after they were raped, or because they tried to fight their attackers. Women's rights activists who have been monitoring the cases say that the police has done little to prove the cases against the offenders, largely because of community pressure. Families of most of the victims are either threatened by the powerful or shy away from approaching the police due to the social taboo attached to rape.
''There are several rape cases in which no action have been taken. Soon after, the victims were either torched or they committed suicide. Timely police action could have saved them,'' says Aruna Rao, the Inspector General of the Madhya Pradesh Women's Crime Cell.
In a village not far away from Sandhya's, we meet a father whose 15-year-old daughter was raped in November by a man known to the family. After he was arrested, there was a vengeful retaliation by the accused's family and the villagers. The parents of the girl were told that the girl had a brought a bad name to the family and would never get married.
The teen victim was moved to a relative's house so that she was not attacked. Her mother is seriously considering withdrawing the police case.
The victim's father is jobless and her mother earns Rs 1,500 a month as a worker at the local aanganwadi. "He sent a message that I can keep my job. He won't trouble me or my daughter."