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Outrage Mounts in India Over Rape Case Teen's Suspicious Car Crash

Agence France-Presse

   NEW DELHI - Fresh protests erupted in India Tuesday amid growing public
   fury over a car crash that critically injured a teenager who accused a
   lawmaker from the ruling party of rape and harassment.

   Two of the 19-year-old's aunts were killed and her lawyer was badly
   injured when a truck collided with their car in northern Uttar Pradesh
   state Sunday, raising suspicions of foul play.

   The incident will be probed by federal investigators amid speculation
   that local police could favor her alleged rapist, Bharatiya Janata
   Party (BJP) legislator Kuldeep Singh Sengar.

   Sengar, a four-term lawmaker, has been in jail since last year but
   reports say he still enjoys considerable clout.

   The young woman and the lawyer were battling for their lives in
   hospital in the state capital Lucknow Tuesday.

   The teenager had accused Sengar of raping her at his home in Unnao
   district in 2017 but police in the notoriously lawless state initially
   refused to take action.

   Her father was detained by police and severely beaten in custody --
   allegedly by Sengar's brother -- and later died from his injuries.

   The woman also tried to set herself on fire outside the home of state
   Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a hardline BJP stalwart.

   On Tuesday, members of opposition parties chanted slogans as they
   protested outside the national parliament.

   "The BJP government should answer how a lawmaker who is in jail is able
   to plan a murderous attack like this?" said Mahua Moitra, a member of
   the opposition Trinamool Congress.

   The teen's family members also staged a protest outside the Lucknow
   hospital, accusing Sengar of ordering the highway crash.

   The demonstrations followed a rally late Monday, with supporters
   holding up banners with the words "you are not alone" in Hindi. More
   protests were planned in New Delhi and Lucknow later Tuesday.

   "We demand justice for the survivor and her family which has been put
   through unspeakable horrors," activist Shehla Rashid said on Twitter.

   The protests were reminiscent of those that followed the fatal gang
   rape of a Delhi student on a bus in 2012 that made headlines around the
   world.

   That case unleashed public anger over rampant sexual violence against
   women in India, and the introduction of tough new laws to punish
   rapists.

   But high numbers of assaults persist, with 40,000 rape cases reported
   every year.