Men gang-rape mother, throw nine-month-old baby out of tricycle?

A nine - month - old baby died when she was thrown out of a moving autorickshaw by men accused of gang -raping her mother, police said Tuesday, in the latest case of sexual violence in India .

Police said they had registered a case of murder and gang rape after the alleged attack on May 29 in Gurgaon , on the outskirts of New Delhi .

“We are interrogating several people and should be able to progress further in the case today , including making possible arrests , ” Gurgaon ’ s commissioner of police Sandeep Khirwar told AFP .

He said the baby had died of head injuries , and estimated the mother was aged 19 or 20 .

The woman told police she had been attacked after getting into an autorickshaw with her daughter around midnight on May 29 to travel to her parents ’ house in Gurgaon , in northern Haryana state.

There were already two men on board , along with the driver .

India has a gruesome record on rape , with the capital New Delhi alone registering 2 , 199 rape cases in 2015 — an average of six a day .

Nearly 40 , 000 rape cases are reported every year but the real number is thought to be much higher , with victims wary of how their complaints will be dealt with or the social stigma attached to sex crimes .

India strengthened its laws on sexual violence after the fatal gang rape of a Delhi student in 2012 caused global outrage , but attacks on women are still widespread .
The latest incident comes shortly after two other high - profile rape cases in Haryana .

Last month , police arrested a man accused of kidnapping, raping and killing his ex -girlfriend in the state. He is alleged to have smashed her head with bricks before running her over in a car .

In another case , a 10 -year -old was found to be five months pregnant after allegedly enduring sustained sexual assault at the hands of her stepfather .

A court later granted the girl permission to have an abortion despite Indian law prohibiting terminations beyond 20 weeks