NEW DELHI: In a case that exemplifies failings of the Indian criminal justice system, a teenaged boy, was on Sunday burnt alive in the Navada district of the North Indian state of Bihar. He was the main witness in a case in which his mother was gang-raped by five men of their village some six years ago. Reports say that Chintu Kumar, who is just 17 years of age, was burnt to death by the same men who stands accused in a court of raping his mother in 2006. He was burnt and killed in Garabigha village, about 150 kilometers from the state's capital Patna. In 2006, Chintu's mother was gang-raped by five co-villagers. Police sources said, Chintu was often threatened to take back the case and absent himself from hearings in court. Chintu, officials said, was slated to give witness before the court in his mother's rape case soon. One account of villagers revealed that the men entered Chintu's house forcibly and set fire to him on Sunday afternoon. All the men are on the run after the incident. Millions of trials in cases of rape and murder across India suffer from lack of evidence by witnesses, generally threatened or bribed by perpetrators of the crime who are mostly part of organized gangs or enjoy powerful political patronage. There is no law in India to protect whistle-blowers, complainants or witnesses.
