INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Scrutiny of sexual violence in India has increased in recent years
A woman in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh is in critical condition after she was set on fire by two men who had allegedly
molested her days earlier.She was reportedly on her way to lodge a complaint with the police on Saturday when the attack occurred
The woman is alleged to have been previously turned away by police.Both the accused have been arrested and three policemen have been
suspended, a police official told TheIndianSubcontinent Hindi
The woman has sustained serious burns
Activists say harassment of rape victims by police is not uncommon
And many cases of sexual molestation and assault in India go unreported because of police apathy as well as the stigma attached to rape.The
attack on the 22-year-old woman took place in Sitapur district.On 29 November, she was allegedly molested by two brothers in a field near
She managed to escape and went to the police station, accompanied by some family members, to register a complaint
But her family alleges that they were turned away by the police.On Saturday, two days after she was first molested, she was on her way to
the police station to make another attempt to lodge a complaint when the accused poured kerosene on her and set her on fire, local media
reports said.Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Schoolgirls staged a protest rally in May after teenagers were raped and
burnt alive
A senior police official told journalists that they were investigating to find out why the officer in-charge of
the police station had not registered her initial complaint
He said two constables and the officer in-charge had been suspended for "neglecting" their duty
Three teenagers were raped and burned alive in unrelated incidents in two different states earlier this year
Two of them died from their injuries
