india

Updated: May 05, 2018 00:06 IST

A minor girl was allegedly raped and later burnt alive by a man and his henchmen in Chatra district on Friday.

The accused were allegedly enraged after the village panchayat imposed a penalty of Rs 50,000 on them on Friday for raping the girl the night before, the police said.

Before setting the Class 8 student on fire on Friday, the accused and his henchmen brutally thrashed the girl’s parents during a hearing at the kangaroo court, forcing them to run for their life, eyewitnesses told the police.

The incident took place at Raja Kendua village under the Itkhori police station in Chatra district soon after the kangaroo court, convened by the local Mukhiya and others, passed the order to pay a fine to the girl’s family and asked the accused to do sit-ups, police said quoting the villagers.

According to the family members of the 16-year-old victim, the accused had earlier abducted the victim from her cousin’s home and raped her before letting her go. The girl had gone to attend a marriage ceremony at her cousin’s home on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.

The victim’s father said, “After the incident, we approached the village elders who suggested holding a panchayat in the village on Friday morning to decide the punishment. When the panchayat imposed a cash penalty, the accused and his men got infuriated and started thrashing us. We ran away to save our lives.”

“However, when we returned after half an hour, we found our daughter burnt and dead inside our home,” he added.

Deputy superintendent of police Pitamber Singh Kherwar said, “The panchayat was convened to settle the issue on Friday when the accused and others thrashed the girl’s parents and set the girl on fire. She died on the spot.”

The police have launched a man-hunt to nab the culprits, he added.