Indian girl raped and found hanging from tree, police say

A 7-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree Thursday in a village in eastern India after she was raped, police reports cited area residents as saying. The incident follows a number of high-profile cases of sexual violence that have triggered outrage across India and abroad.

Angry villagers sought revenge after discovering her body in West Bengal state, on India’s border with Bangladesh. The villagers hunted down and attacked three men they accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering the girl, police Sub-inspector Shankar Das told news agency Agence France-Presse.

One of the suspects died from his injuries, Das said. He added that the police could not immediately confirm the allegations against the three men.

The girl had gone missing near her home in the state's East Midnapore district Wednesday, prompting a search by family and villagers, police said. "This morning around 9:30 a.m., we were on our way out and found the girl hanging from a neem tree," an unnamed villager told India’s NDTV news channel.

Das said that he could not confirm whether the girl had been raped, and that he was waiting for autopsy results.

Sexual violence has become an increasingly volatile issue in India after the fatal gang rape in 2012 of a student on a moving bus in New Delhi. The incident led to a public outcry and tougher laws to deter rapists.

Two girls ages 12 and 14 were gang-raped and lynched in late May in northern Uttar Pradesh state, sparking renewed outrage.

In the southern city of Bangalore, the alleged rape of a 6-year-old girl in a school this month sparked a series of street protests by parents and political activists. 

The head of that school was arrested Wednesday and charged with negligence and attempting to hinder the investigation, police said. The school’s skating instructor was arrested and charged with attacking the child. 

India's new Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised "zero tolerance" toward crimes against women.

India tightened its anti-rape laws last year, making gang rape punishable by death and making stalking and acid attacks specific crimes. 

Activists have said violence against women is deeply ingrained in some segments of Indian society, and government crime statistics show a rape is reported every 21 minutes. 

Al Jazeera and wire services