Global Violence Against Women

Retaliation Gang Rape in India amid Widespread Sexual Violence

A 21-year-old student in India is recovering after she was abducted, drugged and raped by five men, two of whom are currently out on bail awaiting trial for gang raping the same woman in 2013. She was found after the attack unconscious on the side of the highway in Haryana state. According to The Guardian, last week’s attack is believed to be an act of retaliation for her reporting the original crime and refusing to accept a plea deal.

The family of the victim confirms that the accused men frequently harassed the young woman. Speaking with The Hindustan Times, the victim’s brother revealed, “We were getting constant threats from the accused to reach a compromise outside the court, but we remained firm. That’s why they have attacked her again.”

There were nearly 37,000 rapes reported across India in 2014, and many advocates argue the number of sexual assaults is much higher. Sexual violence against women in India gained global attention after the fatal 2012 gang rape of a student on a bus in Delhi. Since then the country’s women’s rights groups have sought to reform their rape laws, including increasing punishments for offenders, but rates of sexual assault remain high.

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