NEW DELHI: Police say a 15-year-old girl who was raped and set on fire this week has died in the New Delhi hospital where she was being treated for severe burns.

Uttar Pradesh state police constable Yadram Singh says the girl succumbed to her burns early Wednesday.

Police have arrested a 20-year-old man and charged him with raping and attempting to burn the girl to death Monday in a village outside of New Delhi. The girl was taken to the hospital with burns over 95 per cent of her body.

The attack was just one of several recently reported cases of rapes of women or children in India ─ underlining the persistence of such violence despite a public outcry three years ago that led to stronger laws against sexual assault.

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