In an Indian village, a woman's killing and alleged rape opens caste divides

When the young woman limped towards shopkeeper Ravindra Prakash, pleading for help on a dark and foggy morning in the northern Indian village, her body was so charred that he thought she was a witch. He grabbed a wooden stick and tried to shoo her away.

While her death has sparked nationwide outrage, her village stands divided over it, largely over caste lines. The brutal gang rape and murder of a young physiotherapist on a Delhi bus in 2012 provoked such widespread revulsion that India enacted some of the world's toughest anti-rape laws, including the death penalty in some cases.

In Hindu Nagar, caste lines are visible from the street. Homes built of cement belong to the upper castes. Mud-and-thatch huts are inhabited by the lower castes. After the attack, dozens of police officers were employed to maintain order as crowds of journalists and politicians descended on the village.

"She must have poured petrol over herself to take revenge, since he didn't want to marry her," said Preeti Bajpai, the sister of one of the accused, Umesh Bajpai.Reuters"The policemen have been suspended for dereliction of duty. A special investigation team has been formed on my recommendation, and we are probing the case."Most lower-caste women do not study past high school in Hindu Nagar, and many are married by their teens, villagers said.

She filed at least three complaints to police between Dec 2018 and Feb 2019 accusing the men of rape. Police registered her case in March, according to copies of the complaints reviewed byIn that March 5 report, the woman alleged Shubham Trivedi had raped her multiple times in 2018 and made false promises of marriage. At one point, he took her to the neighbouring city of Rae Bareilly and briefly locked her up in a room, threatening to kill her if she tried escaping, the report said.

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