Indian Teenager Raped, Murdered And Hanged From Tree

Another Horrific Rape And Murder Of An Indian Teenager
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Barcroft Media

An Indian teenager has reportedly been hanged from a tree after being raped and murdered, in a case that echoes the horrific rape and murder of two cousins in the country last month.

The 19-year-old woman's body was found hanging on Thursday from a citrus tree in the impoverished north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the same state where the two cousins, aged 14 and 15, were found hanged from a tree after disappearing from fields near their village.

The father of the girl found dead on Thursday said she went missing on Wednesday night and believes she was raped and murdered.

He has accused the police of not acting fast enough, while police officials said the family of the victim had not registered a case yet.

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The cousins who were also raped and hanged last month disappeared from the fields near their village of Katra.

WARNING: THE LINK BELOW CONTAINS EXTREMELY GRAPHIC IMAGES

The crimes - and others - triggered huge anger and sent shockwaves through India over its perceived failure to prevent sexual violence against women and girls.

In 2012, a gang of men raped a 23-year-old Delhi student who subsequently died of her injuries, a case that "shocked the collective consciousness of India", according to the judge who sentenced the perpetrators to death.

In April, the head of Uttar Pradesh's governing party told an election rally he opposed the death penalty for gang rapist because "boys will be boys, and they make mistakes."

The same month, a court in India had sentenced three men to hang after they were convicted of raping a photojournalist and a telephone operator in Mumbai.

The 22-year-old photo intern had gone to an abandoned textile mill with a male colleague on an assignment when she was attacked, with her companion badly beaten.