A woman was raped by a gang of men in a revenge attack before being blackened with soot and paraded through the streets, Indian reports allege
- A mother was gang-raped after a teenager whose advances she rejected died by suicide, say reports.
- A harrowing video shows the woman with her head shaved and face blackened being dragged through the streets.
A 20-year-old mother-of-one was gang-raped and tortured by a group of men before being paraded through the streets of Delhi, India, say local reports.
A disturbing video, published by MailOnline, shows the woman being dragged through the streets and jeered at by a crowd on Wednesday.
The victim's head was shaved, her face blackened, and a garland of shoes was tied around her neck.
In the viral video, which has sparked widespread outrage, the crying victim is dragged through the streets by another woman as others approach and slap her.
The victim's family told local news outlet News laundry that the attackers were related to a teenager who died by suicide last year after the married victim rejected his romantic advances.
"They blamed my sister for [his] death," her sister told the outlet, referring to the boy's family, "and started taking out their anger against us."
The victim's sister said that the family made regular threats of rape and violence, which she reported to the police on several occasions.
Police said the victim told them that the men sexually assaulted her in front of their mother, aunt, and other women in the family, according to News laundry.
Delhi police have arrested 11 people in connection with the incident on Wednesday, including nine women, CBS News said.
They said the case continues to be investigated, and more arrests are expected soon, the outlet reported.
The victim's family has been given police protection, and she is currently in a safe house, reports said.
Delhi's Chief Minister, Arvind Kejriwal, condemned the attack as "shameful" and urged tough action against the alleged perpetrators, per CBS News.
The incident is the latest in a string of brutal rapes in India, part of an epidemic of sexual violence against women.
India's rape laws were overhauled after a woman was gang-raped and killed in Delhi in 2012, but the number of offenses remains high.
More than 28,000 rapes were reported in 2020, but the actual number is likely to be far higher because stigma and victim-blaming often stop women from coming forward.
Police in India have often been accused of not doing enough to prevent and investigate reports of sexual assault.