Indian woman killed after resisting molesters

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-27692104

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A woman in the north-eastern Indian state of Meghalaya has been shot dead by militants for resisting their attempts to molest her, police say.

Five members of the local GNLA militant group locked the woman's husband and children inside the house, police official GHP Raju told BBC Hindi.

They then dragged the woman out and shot her in the head with a rifle when she fought their attempt to molest her.

Police are searching the area for the militants, Mr Raju said.

"It's a remote area, there are mountains and thick jungles. We have launched an investigation, our search parties are in the area," he added.

The attack took place in the South Garo Hills district, close to the Bangladesh border, on Tuesday evening and the woman, a 35-year-old mother of four, died on the spot.

Mr Raju said the militants belonged to the Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) which is fighting for a separate state for the Garo tribe in the area.

There has been outrage in India and globally over brutal attacks on women in recent years.

After a 23-year-old student was gang raped and killed on a bus in the capital, Delhi, in December 2012, India brought in tougher new laws, introducing the death penalty for particularly brutal assaults or repeat offenders.

But correspondents say the law has hardly proved a deterrent and attacks on women continue to be reported from across the country.

Last week, two teenage cousins were gang raped and hanged from a tree in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

On Tuesday, reports said police were investigating the attempted rape of a female judge in Aligarh, also in Uttar Pradesh.