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Anger in India after 19-year-old woman dies two weeks after gang rape

 Supporters of India's opposition Congress party beat a burning effigy of Uttar Pradesh state chief minister Yogi Adityanath during a protest against the gang rape and killing of a woman in New Delhi, India, on September 30 2020. Picture by Altaf Qadri, AP
 Supporters of India's opposition Congress party beat a burning effigy of Uttar Pradesh state chief minister Yogi Adityanath during a protest against the gang rape and killing of a woman in New Delhi, India, on September 30 2020. Picture by   Supporters of India's opposition Congress party beat a burning effigy of Uttar Pradesh state chief minister Yogi Adityanath during a protest against the gang rape and killing of a woman in New Delhi, India, on September 30 2020. Picture by Altaf Qadri, AP

The gang rape and death of a young woman from the lowest rung of India's caste system has sparked outrage across the country with politicians and activists demanding justice and protesters rallying on the streets.

The 19-year-old is the latest victim of sexual violence against women in India, where reports of rape are hauntingly familiar.

The woman, who belonged to the Dalit community, was raped by four men on September 14 in the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh state.

The woman's family told local media they found her naked, bleeding and paralysed in a field outside their home. She died two weeks later, yesterday, after battling serious injuries in hospital in New Delhi.

Police said four men from an upper caste have been arrested.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath today ordered a special investigation team to handle the case and said it will be tried in a fast-track court.

In New Delhi, police detained several women after they tried to march in the street shouting slogans against Mr Adityanath and prime minister Narendra Modi. The demonstrators carried placards that read: "Stop rape culture."

Earlier yesterday, hundreds of protesters from the Bhim Army, a party championing the rights of Dalits, thronged the hospital site in New Delhi and jostled with police.

Party leader Chandra Shekhar Aazad asked Dalits across the country to flood the streets to demand the perpetrators be hanged.

Dalits - formerly known as "untouchables" and at the bottom of an unforgiving Hindu caste hierarchy in India - are victims of thousands of attacks each year. According to human rights organisations, Dalit women are particularly vulnerable to caste-based discrimination and sexual violence.

Last month, a 13-year-old Dalit girl was raped and killed in Uttar Pradesh, and last December a 23-year-old Dalit woman in the same state died after being set ablaze by a gang of men as she made her way to court to press rape charges. Both cases are pending in court.

A Congress party supporter protesting against the gang rape of a woman in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district is detained by police in New Delhi, India, on September 30 2020. Picture by Altaf Qadri, AP 
A Congress party supporter protesting against the gang rape of a woman in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district is detained by police in New Delhi, India, on September 30 2020. Picture by Altaf Qadri, AP  A Congress party supporter protesting against the gang rape of a woman in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district is detained by police in New Delhi, India, on September 30 2020. Picture by Altaf Qadri, AP 

In the latest case, questions were also raised over a hasty cremation, with several politicians calling it an abuse of human rights.

The woman was cremated early today with the family alleging police did not allow them to perform her final rites. Videos on social media show the family weeping as police insisted on cremating the body without allowing them to take it home.

Police spokesman Vikrant Veer denied the allegations, while opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi described the cremation incident as "abusive and unjust".

In India, rape and sexual violence have been under the spotlight since the 2012 gang rape and killing of a 23-year-old student on a New Delhi bus. The attack galvanised massive protests and inspired legislators to order the creation of fast-track courts dedicated to rape cases and to stiffen penalties for those convicted.

In March, four men were hanged for the 2012 attack.

Indians often rally for swift justice in a country where a woman is raped every 15 minutes, according to government data, and sentencing is notoriously delayed by backlogged courts.

According to the government, police registered 33,658 cases of rape in 2017 - an average of 92 per day and a 35% jump from 2012. About 10,000 of the reported victims were children.

The real figure is believed to be far higher due to the stigma of sexual violence.