India 'untouchable' rape victim killed

NEW DELHI, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A man from India's upper caste has been detained for allegedly murdering an "untouchable" teenager who had accused him of rape.

Asha Katiya, 15, died of burns after being doused with kerosene, allegedly by the same man she had reported to police in a rural village in Madhya Pradesh state.

According to a report in The Independent Saturday, her accusations about the sexual assault were largely ignored by neighbors and authorities because of her place in society. At the same time, the alleged rapist had threatened to kill her if did not retract her complaint.

The newspaper said the incident came on the heels of the slayings of an untouchable family of four who lived on a plot of land that their upper-cast neighbors wanted for a road.