The body of a gang-raped teenager who was burned to death after her attackers threatened her family was 'hijacked' by police who attempted to forcibly cremate it, reports today suggest.
The girl, 16, was gang-raped in October in Madhyamgram, near Calcutta, by a group of six men - who are believed to have links with West Bengal’s ruling party, the Trinamool Congress.
They again attacked her the following day as she returned from reporting the crime to police with her father, it is claimed.
The group were arrested - but the teen and her family say they received a series of threats from the men.
The alleged threats included one saying the girl's taxi-driver father would be killed if she continued to pursue charges.
The family’s landlord, who is reportedly related to one of the gang, allegedly told them they must leave their one-bedroom property also.
On the morning of her death, two friends of the accused allegedly visited the girl's home and verbally abused the girl.
The teen victim was set alight on December 23 and died from her injuries on New Year's Eve.
Doctors said the victim - who had 40 per cent burns - had suffered severe damage to her throat and face, making it difficult for her to breathe.
Earlier reports suggested the victim had committed suicide - a story that initially came from police - but today it was revealed the girl said two men poured kerosene over her and burned her before she died.
Doctors have also said the girl was pregnant when she died.
Reports today suggest police 'hijacked' the hearse carrying the girl's body and attempted to have it cremated despite the family's wishes to wait to give her a proper funeral.
On Tuesday evening police are alleged to have intercepted the hearse, which was travelling from RG Kar Hospital to a mortuary. They took it to a crematorium where the body remained for three hours, it is claimed.
Officers are then said to have gone to the home of the bereaved family at around 2am and threatened to break down the door if they did not give them the death certificate needed for the cremation.
The girl's father refused, but officers allegedly tormented the family all night.
In a letter written to Govenor M K Narayanan the father said: 'The superintendent of police and other officers reached our house in the dead of the night and asked us to open the door.
'We were scared and refused to come out before day broke. They threatened to break down the door.'
It is currently unclear as to why officers were so desperate to have the girl cremated on Tuesday night. Some reports suggest it could have been due to pressure from the Trinamool Congress.
Eventually, with the help of the Communist Party of India (CPM), the family took control of the body on Wednesday afternoon.
CPM supporters carried out a rally with the body and the victim's father agreed to cremation after he was given assurances the family would be protected from the gang and its associates.
The events have led to protests across Calcutta - with campaigners saying nothing has changed in the country since the death of a student who was gang raped on a Delhi bus last year.
Brinda Karat, a leading Women's Rights campaigner in India told The Telegraph: 'This gang raped her twice, she went to the police, and they had the temerity to go to her house and threaten her.
'Clearly they have political patronage, otherwise it is impossible for that to happen.
'What is so tragic is that her life could have been saved if the government and ordinary processes of law had worked — they would not have delayed bringing justice and protection for the victim.
'It’s a year since this terrible case in Delhi outraged the country and forced the government to make public commitments about preventative, protective and legal measures to punish [perpetrators] when these cases occur.'
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