7 months after marriage to rapist, 19-year-old hangs herself

Chandigarh, Oct 26: Seven months after a Haryana rape survivor was made to marry her rapist on the intervention of a panchayat, unending torment at her inlaws' hands drove the 19year-old girl to hang herself on Tuesday.

A case was registered atJagadhri City police station. The rape took place at Jagadhri inYamunanagar district in October 2015, and the rapist, Anuj, was booked and arrested. However, he offered to marry the rape survivor, then a minor, as part of a deal brokered by a panchayat . The couple tied the nuptial knot in March and the girl deposed in Anuj's favour in July, which led to his being cleared of the rape charges.

According to the complaint filed by the girl's mother, Anuj and his parents kept harassing the victim . "She was subjected to physical and mental torture. They had an altercation on Monday as well," said Jagadhri City SHO Sunil Kumar. The victim's mother also alleged that she was hanged after being killed, and that Anuj and his parents had been harassing her (victim) to bring dowry and to pay their legal expenses in the rape case.