Days after an alleged gang-rape victim was set on
fire, a note was left at the family home of an 18-year-old set to testify in her own case against a man she had accused of rape. “Consequences may be worse than what happened in Unnao,” the note read, alluding to the city in northern
India where a woman was allegedly doused with gasoline and set ablaze by five men, including two she had accused of gang rape who were out on bail. Sexual violence against women and girls is so common in India, the case was given only a few lines in one of the country’s leading dailies.