22-year-old woman who swallowed acid to escape assaulters after being gang raped dies

A 22-year-old woman, who had consumed acid after being gang raped, has died in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on Sunday (24 September) after battling for life for seven months.

The woman hailed from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and was reportedly gang raped by two men in January when her husband was away from home for three weeks due to work.

Dr Apeksha Mhatre, who was handling the woman's case, said: "Her food pipe was badly damaged and we tried our best to save her, but couldn't. She had lost weight and was undergoing mental trauma due to the incident."

According to reports, the victim and her husband had married for love against the approval of their families and had moved to a slum in Maharashtra. The alleged rapists – Sandeep Yadav and Shivam Yadav – had gang raped her when her husband, a catering contractor, had gone out of town for work in January.

The police inspector K Hegaje, who is investigating the case, said that the duo had sexually assaulted her and had threatened to kill her with a pistol.

The accused had allegedly threatened the victim, saying that they had recorded the whole incident and if she told anyone about the rape, they would make the video go viral, The Hindustan Times reported.

The woman consumed acid in February, inspector Hegaje said. She was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where it was found that she was gang raped.

Her husband then registered a case against the two accused, who were arrested soon.

"We had arrested the two for gang rape, kidnapping, blackmailing and they are lodged in the Thane Central Jail," an official said.