Dhanu Bhuiyan accused of raping girl, 16, who was later burned to death in Jharkhand

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The main suspect in the latest rape and murder to shock India has been arrested, police said on Sunday, as protests took place over a separate high-profile sexual assault case.

Dhanu Bhuiyan is accused of raping a 16-year-old girl, who was later burned to death, in the eastern state of Jharkhand on Friday. He was found hiding at a relative’s house.

The local village chief was also among 15 people detained in the case, and the victim’s family have been given special police protection.

Police said Bhuiyan had become enraged after the local village council ordered him to do 100 sit-ups and pay a 50,000-rupee (£550) fine following the rape. He and his accomplices then allegedly attacked the girl’s parents before setting their home on fire with the girl inside.

Inspector general Shambhu Thakur said: “We are on the case and we promise the family that the guilty won’t be spared.”

The village chief had been arrested because he “announced a punishment that led to the murder”.

Village councils often settle disputes in rural India, bypassing a lengthy and expensive judicial system. Although they carry no legal weight, they exert significant day-to-day influence.

The chief minister of Jharkhand, Raghubar Das, has called for stringent punishment in what he called a barbaric case, and announced compensation of 100,000 rupees for the victim’s family.

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Indian authorities have faced renewed pressure to act over sexual assault since the recent gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old Muslim girl by a group of Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir state.

The Jammu case has revived communal tensions. Protesters backing the Hindu suspects threw stones at the car of a Jammu and Kashmir state minister, Sham Lal Chaudhary, on Sunday, demanding a new inquiry into the case, media reports said.