Indian Police have arrested a village leader who allegedly ordered the gang rape of a 20-year-old woman in West Bengal state after she admitted to having an affair with a muslim man from another community.
Pictured below: The suspects in the gang-rape case being led by police to a district courthouse
Sunil Soren, the village elder, demanded the sexual assault after her family failed to pay a 50,000 rupee ($807) penalty for the illicit relationship, Prasanta Chowdhury, additional superintendent of police in Birbhum district, about a 117 miles (188 kilometers) north of Kolkata, confirmed this on phone.
"The head of the village council held an urgent meeting in the village square on Tuesday when the girl and her lover were called," Sudhakar said.
"The girl and her lover were tied to two separate trees and fined 25,000 rupees each for having an affair," he said.
"As the parents of the girl, who were also present at the meeting, expressed their inability to pay the fine, the head of the village council ordered that she should be raped by the villagers as punishment."
The man was freed after he agreed to pay the fine within a week, but the woman was taken to a shed where the attack was carried out, he said.
The woman, her head wrapped in a scarf, confirmed the attack when confronted by television crews, saying softly: "They raped me ... all of them were my father's age."
Her mother said the attackers warned the family against going to police, and initially stopped them from taking her to hospital.
"The crime was committed by our own people. They tortured my daughter and dumped her home late at night," she told news men.
Police yesterday also arrested 12 other men accused of taking part in the rape, including the village chief, which stemmed from a local court proceeding unrecognized by any laws, he said.
“The crime was led by the unofficial head-man of the tribal community,” Chowdhury said.
“In much of rural India, one man is simply recognized by the community as the village leader, sometimes by age, sometimes by wealth or education. It’s not uncommon. However, this behavior certainly is.”
The woman, who was recovering in a local hospital in Birbhum district, identified to police all 13 attackers. They were all denied bail on Thursday after appearing in court in the same district.
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