Death of child prompts protests over rape in India
The alleged rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in India has sparked days of protests which have beengrowing in momentum.
On Thursday, demonstrators gathered outside the crematorium in New Delhi where the incident is said to have taken place last Sunday.
Police allege that the girl was killed after she went to fetch water from there.
Her family said they went looking for the girl when she failed to return home.
They claim they saw some of the alleged perpetrators who worked at the crematorium incinerating her body against the family's wishes.
This is the victim's father:
"The priest said to me that my daughter died with electric shock and he had performed her last rites. He asked me to keep this to myself and do not spread the news. I said, this is not fair, how can you cremate my daughter without showing me her face? he showed my daughter's face to my wife, but, not me."
Police said four men have been arrested on charges of rape, murder and criminal intimidation.
They were not available for comment and Reuters could not determine if they had lawyers.
The incident has drawn into focus the rampant sexual violence in India, with some calling for the perpetrators to be hanged.
According to the latest government data, there were more than 32,000 rapes recorded in the country in 2019 - almost four an hour.
There were more than 100,000 kidnappings of women over the same period - a third of them with the aim of forcing them into marriage.
The chief minister of India's capital has ordered a judge-led inquiry into the 9-year-old's case.
