Indian rape victim attempts suicide by self-immolation

A 16-year-old Indian girl attempted suicide by setting herself on fire, after allegedly being raped by a neighbour, police said on Saturday.

The alleged sex crime is among the host of cases that have been recently highlighted by the media since the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman in the Indian capital on December 16 sparked widespread outrage and demands for more stringent laws against sexual abuse of women.

The low-caste Dalite girl, in the northern Indian state of Haryana, suffered burns covering more than 90 per cent of her body and was in critical condition at hospital, local police officer Anil Nehra said.

The girl's family had alleged that she was lured by a neighbour into his car and raped, NDTV news channel reported. The neighbour had threatened to kill her if she confided in anyone, her family said.

In a statement before a judicial officer, the girl had said she was raped five days ago by a neighbour whom she named, Nehra said, adding that the man had been arrested.

The Delhi gang rape has led to demands for quick investigations and trials in cases of rape. An estimated 40 000 rape cases are pending before Indian courts, according to women's rights activists.

There were 733 cases of rape in Haryana in 2011, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, with activists saying many more go unreported.