The accused set the girl alight after she said she would tell her family what had happened, police said.
A 16-year-old girl in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district was allegedly raped and then burnt alive on Thursday, the third such case to be reported in the past week. The girl was alone at her home, in Jujharpur village, when the accused, a 26-year-old man, barged in and allegedly raped her. The accused, identified as Ravi Chadhar, allegedly poured kerosene on her and set her on fire after she said she would tell her family about what had happened, police said. The girl died soon after.
According to the police, the girl's cousin had informed the main accused that the girl was at home by herself.
"We have arrested the two accused. One of them is the cousin of the girl who informed the main suspect that she was alone in the house. Based on the girl's dying statement, her family's statements and also circumstantial evidence, we have lodged a case of rape and murder," police officer Kamal Singh Thakur said.
The family had gone to attend a wedding at a nearby village when the incident took place, the girl's father said. "The accused used to stay near our house, sometimes after getting drunk, he used to get abusive," he told the police.
Sagar Rape Case: Police have arrested the two accused. One of them is the cousin of the girl.
The village falls under the constituency of State Home Minister Bhupendra Singh, who blamed "perversity" and "pornography" for the rise in such incidents. The minister visited the residence of the girl, and announced financial help of Rs 2 lakh to the family. He also assured them of all possible assistance.
"I am leaving for the residence of the girl... Perversity in society is responsible for the rise in such incidents across the country. To an extent, porn sites are responsible for such incidents. We have shut down 21 such sites and also written to the Centre to take action in this regard," Mr Singh said, according to news agency Press Trust of India.
Senior Congress leader and state party chief Kamal Nath hit out at the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. He said that while incidents of rape and farmer suicides continue to rise in the state, the chief minister is busy with Karnataka elections and national politics. Such incidents, he said in a tweet in Hindi, are shameful for the state.
Similar incidents took place in Jharkhand this week, where a
16-year-old girl was burnt alive inside her home, allegedly by men who had gang-raped her the night before. The girl's family says the four men, allegedly drunk, kidnapped her from her house, took her to a deserted spot and raped her.
In another instance, a
17-year-old girl with severe burn injuries told the Jharkhand police she was raped and set on fire by a man from her village in Jharkhand's Pakud district. The girl said she was alone at home when a young man from the neighbourhood came in, allegedly raped and then set her on fire.