New Delhi: A 19-year-old woman, who was brutally gang-raped in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district two weeks ago, died of her grievous injuries at a Delhi hospital on Tuesday morning, prompting outrage and angry protests.
As news of her death spread, protests broke out at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital as well as in Vijay Chowk and in Hathras and civil society activists and politicians demanded justice for her.
Leading the protests outside Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad said he appealed to all members of the Dalit community to take to the streets and demand death penalty for the guilty.
The government should not test our patience. We won't rest until the culprits are hanged," he said as restless crowds milled around the complex.
At the protest, the Bhim Army chief said, "I appeal to all members of the Dalit community to take to the streets and demand death penalty for the guilty. The government should not test our patience. We won't rest until the culprits are hanged."
Azad had earlier demanded that the Uttar Pradesh government shift the woman to AIIMS for better treatment.
"The state government is equally responsible for the death of our sister," he alleged.
The woman was gang-raped a fortnight ago. The accused had tried to strangle her to death as she resisted their rape attempt and in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it. The four accused have been arrested.
The Hathras SP said police initially they came to know that Sandip, 20, had tried to kill the 19-year-old and he was arrested the same day.
Later in her statement to the magistrate, the woman had said that besides Sandip, Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi had raped her and when she resisted their attempts, they tried to strangulate her, leading to severe injuries.
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