Indian gang-rape cover-up fears as police say murdered woman was NOT sexually assaulted: Victim's family fear for their lives amid claims higher-caste 'attackers' are being protected

A court in India has ordered police to protect the family of a woman who was killed by four high-caste men, as police denied that the woman was gang-raped after burning her body. 

The 19-year-old woman, of the 'untouchable' Dalit class, died this week after a horrific alleged gang-rape by four men in fields near her home left her paralysed with a broken spine.  

The four men accused, described as 'upper caste' in local media, allegedly attacked the woman in the Hathras region, around 60 miles from Delhi, on September 14. 

Local police issued a statement on Thursday saying that according to a forensic report 'no rape was committed'. 

The four attackers, described as 'upper caste' in local media, are in custody and will now be charged with murder

This contradicts statements from both the victim and her mother, and also findings from the Delhi hospital when she was admitted, media reports said, stoking fears of a police cover-up to protect the attackers.

However, experts cast doubt on the forensic test cited by the police, saying it was conducted too long - eight days - after the attack.

Mishika Singh, a lawyer and activist, told AFP that the findings were 'in no way conclusive proof to say rape was not committed'. 

This comes as a second woman, 22, also from the Dalit community, was gang-raped and killed in the Balrampur district just days after the teenager's brutal murder. 

The 19-year-old victim's brother told Indian television on Thursday they were frightened and feared reprisals over the accusations. 

'We're not safe in this village. They can do anything to us. We don't trust the police or the administration. Our fears have increased now,' he said. 

The state's high court on Thursday ordered authorities to 'ensure that no coercion, influence or pressure is exerted upon the family members of the deceased in any manner, by anyone.'

Uttar Pradesh police guard the family house of a 19-year-old woman, who died after being allegedly gang-raped by four men

It sharply criticised police for reportedly cremating the young woman in the middle of the night - against the family's wishes and religious custom - after her body was brought back from the New Delhi hospital where she died from her injuries on Tuesday. 

The court set a hearing for October 12, summoning both police and the victim's family. 

The late-night cremation of the woman's body further stoked accusations that local police were protecting the alleged culprits and their well-connected, high-caste families. 

The unnamed victim had been on a ventilator in intensive care after the savage alleged rape left her with multiple fractures.

 A man holds a placard during a protest in Mumbai on Wednesday after the death of the first rape victim, 19, from the Dalit cast

She was only moved from a hospital in upstate Uttar Pradesh to one in the capital the day before she died.

The four attackers are in custody and will now be charged with murder.

The young woman had been cutting grass near her home when she was dragged into millet fields and stripped by the attackers.

Her brother told NDTV: 'My mother, sister and elder brother had gone to a field to get some grass. My brother went home earlier with a large bundle of grass, while my mother and sister continued to cut them.

'The women were a little far from each other. Four-five people came from behind, they threw my sister's dupatta around her neck and dragged her inside the bajra field.

'My mother realised she was missing and went looking for her. My sister was found unconscious. They had raped her. The police did not help us initially... they did not take quick action. They acted only after four-five days.'

It has been reported that the woman's tongue was cut out by the attackers, however, it has since been clarified by officials that the woman lacerated her own tongue when she bit down on it as the men tried to strangle her with her scarf. 

The Hathras district magistrate said on Tuesday: 'All four accused have been arrested. Under the SC/ST Act, her family has been given the financial support of Rs 10 lakh (£11,000), in total. Reports of her tongue being chopped off are not true.' 

A second woman, 22, also of the Dalit community was gang-raped and killed in Utter Pradesh, India, just days after the teenager's brutal murder shocked the country. Pictured: India's opposition Congress party supporters protest against the first killing in New Delhi

The woman's brothers, who say the police only acted when the case became a national scandal, claimed that officials failed to move her to adequate medical facilities in time. 

'We were told that she would be taken to AIIMS (All India Institute Of Medical Sciences, New Delhi) but she was taken to Safdarjung,' one of them told reporters.

'Her condition was very bad. She was found in the bajra field, without clothes. Initially we even wondered if she was bitten by a snake. Three bones on her neck were broken. She had difficulty breathing... She needed oxygen right from the beginning. We reached here (Safdarjung Hospital) yesterday,' another brother told the local press on Monday.

The police in Uttar Pradesh state have denied the family's claims that they did not act fast enough and say that they will fast track a prosecution.

Hathras police chief Vikrant Vir told NDTV: 'This is a very unfortunate incident but we have been proactive in making arrests and helping the family in whatever manner possible. I will personally ensure swift investigation and that these men are tried in a fast track court.' 

The case, the latest in a harrowing litany to plague the country, has been reported across the country and compared to the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape, a rape and murder which took place on a bus in Delhi and sparked waves of national protests.

Today around 300 protesters from the Bhim Army, a party championing the rights of Dalit community of which the woman was a member, entered the hospital premises and shouted slogans near the mortuary. 

Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest after the death of a rape victim inside the premises of Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, India, on Tuesday

Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister Siddharth Nath Singh said: 'The incident is very saddening. Our government stands with the victim's family. Investigation started immediately and four accused have been arrested. Strict action will be taken. The law will take its course.' 

'There is next to no protection for women. Criminals are openly committing crimes,' Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a leader of the opposition Congress party, said on Twitter. 

One woman reported a rape every 15 minutes on an average in India in 2018, according to the latest government data released in January. 

The woman's home state of Uttar Pradesh, which ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, ranks as the most unsafe state for women in the country.

Last December, a 23-year-old Dalit woman was set ablaze by a gang of men as she made her way to a court in Uttar Pradesh to press rape charges.