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Controversy Surrounds Woman Investigated for Alleged Rapist's Death in House Fire, India
India: A woman in India is being investigated for murder after her alleged rapist died in a house fire, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday. The unnamed woman, a widow, claims she was asleep when the alleged assailant, Bhola Thakur, entered her house early Tuesday morning and raped her. A police officer told the Hindustan Times that the man was "so drunk he [fell] asleep in her house after committing the crime."
The Indian Express reports that the woman contemplated committing suicide out of shame, but changed her mind and instead poured kerosene on her slumbering attacker before fleeing the house. Thakur died in the fire. Police told the Hindustan Times he had been previously accused in dozens of cases of "eve-teasing" -- a euphemism used in India for public sexual assault. The decision to handle this case as one of murder rather than rape has caused some controversy in India, as many feel the police should have been more sympathetic to a woman who apparently acted out of self-defense.
The woman was arrested by the police on Tuesday, according to the Hindustan Times. Thakur's widow has reportedly filed a report against the woman, and police are investigating the alleged rape and murder cases. India is under increased pressure to improve women's rights after a brutal gang rape of a young woman last year provoked mass protests around the country. In what is seen as an encouraging move, India's Parliament passed an expansive new law to protect women against sexual violence in March.
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