Santhal tribal women gather in Subalpur village where the woman was gangraped, allegedly on the direction of a village council in Birbhum district, about 180 kilometers north of Kolkata. These unelected and unregulated courts now are coming under fresh scrutiny after police say a council of elders in West Bengal ordered the gang rape of a 20-year-old woman as punishment for falling in love with the wrong man. Santhal tribal women gather in Subalpur village where the woman was gangraped, allegedly on the direction of a village council in Birbhum district, about 180 kilometers north of Kolkata. These unelected and unregulated courts now are coming under fresh scrutiny after police say a council of elders in West Bengal ordered the gang rape of a 20-year-old woman as punishment for falling in love with the wrong man.

Even as the Birbhum gangrape victim crawls towards a recovery, the girl's village persists with its prejudice and has refused to let her or her family return.As the West Bengal police try and build an airtight case against the accused, the villagers have threatened the girl and her family with dire consequences if they try and return to the village.On Saturday, as a forensic team tried to collect evidence from the area, a villager in response to a question said, "If that girl returns to this village we will throw her out. We will pour kerosene on her and set her on fire."In fact, some of the villagers even denied that a rape or gangrape had taken place. One villager said, "If a girl gets raped by 12-13 men, then how is it possible for her to walk out of that place? How can she take the cycle to the police station to lodge complaint?"The girl's family has already fled Subalpur village, fearing a backlash.