Gang rape victim in Ukraine dies after 3-weeks

30 March, 2012

We in India cry hoarse over rapes and gang-rapes committed by persons who wield power or by their sons. But - it is no different in Ukraine. Taking advantage of the weaker sex appears to have become a global problem.

EIGHTEEN-YEAR-old Oksana Makar of Ukraine was gang raped by three men in their early 20s in southern Ukrainian city of Mykolayiv. Drugs have made serious inroads into this industrial city and such crimes could be the handiwork of drug addicts – that is what one feels.

After the inhuman attack, the rapists strangled the girl, set her on fire and left her to die in a field. She lay in the open field in freezing cold conditions for nearly 10-hours before a passer-by noticed her and arranged to get her moved to a hospital for treatment.

Makar did survive but the fire had taken a heavy toll on her body. She suffered 55% burns and one of her arms had to undergo amputation. She struggled in a specialist hospital in the eastern city of Donetsk for three weeks before breathing her last.

Femen activists had staged a topless protest in the office of Ukrainian general prosecutor of Kiev to express their anguish at police inaction.

The President and Prime Minister of Ukraine have sent their condolences to her family and have also promised to ensure that the rapists are punished. Two of the rapists are reported to be sons of influential persons and, initially, the police set them free. But – due to agitations, the two have been rearrested.