17-Year-Old Allegedly Beaten To Death By Family After Neighbor Raped Her; Father Detained

A 17-year-old girl in India, whom a neighbor has reportedly raped, was beaten to death by her family, police said.

The unidentified teen girl from Jabalpur, a city in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, who was allegedly raped Monday night, was found dead when the police reached her home to take her statement regarding the rape case. The family initially claimed that the girl died by suicide after the sexual assault, but the autopsy later revealed that she was brutally beaten to death, police said Tuesday, reported The Hindustan Times.

The police have started an investigation and detained the teen's father for questioning after ruling the death as a homicide.

The girl's father had approached the police complaining that a 21-year-old neighbor identified as Devendra Chaudhary raped his daughter after entering their house Monday night, reported Free Press Journal. He complained that the alleged offender threatened to defame his daughter and her family in their neighborhood. The father also claimed that when the girl's mother witnessed the sexual assault, she shouted for help but Chaudhary hit her on the head and fled.

"When police reached the victim’s house to register her statement, the girl was found dead. The family members, who were present at home, said the girl died by suicide by strangulating herself,” Siddharth Bahuguna, a senior investigating officer said.

Meanwhile, the police have registered a case against Chaudhary on charges of rape and child sexual assault.

In August, a 38-year-old rape victim from the Indian city of Mumbai was brutally attacked with acid. The woman suffered grievous injuries to her legs and was hospitalized for treatment. The victim complained that the attacker threw an acid balloon at her while threatening her to withdraw the case of rape and extortion she had lodged against a woman and her friends two months ago. The victim was attacked a week after she complained to the police that she received threats from her alleged offenders to withdraw the case. The police said they were investigating if the attacker was hired by the same people.