10-Year-Old Girl Dies In Hospital Days After Reported Gang Rape In India

10-Year-Old Dies After Gang Rape In India
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Indian members of a social organisation Our City Our Right hold posters during a silent protest following the recent gang rape and murder of a 20-year-old college student in Barasat, in Kolkata on June 15, 2013. Activists and social groups in various parts of the state held rallies and protests following the incident. AFP PHOTO/ Dibyangshu SARKAR (Photo credit should read DIBYANGSHU SARKAR/AFP/Getty Images)

A 10-year-old girl who reportedly was gang-raped in India last week succumbed to an unspecified ailment at a Mumbai hospital Tuesday night.

The child was admitted to the facility in Navi Mumbai with nausea and a high fever several days after the June 16 assault, NDTV reports. Authorities are investigating whether the girl died of injuries relating to the rape or if an unrelated illness -- possibly meningitis -- was the cause.

According to local reports, four teenage boys between the ages of 14 and 16 gang-raped the young girl after luring her to a secluded location.

The girl was rushed to the local hospital after she collapsed on June 20. Though the 10-year-old was unconscious during her time in the hospital, she reportedly described the assault to a friend before she was admitted. The friend relayed the account to the girl's parents.

"The girl had told her mother that she was experiencing pain in her private parts, but did not reveal that she had been raped. Her ordeal came to light when she was hospitalized," Fatehsingh Patil, a police commissioner in Navi Mumbai, told the Mumbai Mirror. "We have registered a case and are questioning the suspects."

As the Hindustan Times notes, one of the boys in question is believed to have previously raped the girl on a separate occasion.

The horrific incident is the latest in a string of sexual assaults that have been reported in India recently. Just last week, a 13-year-old in eastern Mumbai was raped by an 18-year-old, with whom she was in a relationship, and two other men.

Following the widely publicized death of a 23-year-old student who was raped by a group of men on a moving bus in New Delhi in late 2012, many in the country have pressed the government to take a harsher stance against sexual violence.

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Before You Go

Indian Protestors Demand Death Penalty For Rapists
(01 of08)
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An Indian protestor holds a balloon with a slogan during a protest against last month's gang rape and murder of a student, in New Delhi on January 27, 2013. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(02 of08)
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Mock hangmen's nooses hang during a protest demanding the death penalty for six men accused of the fatal gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi last month in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) (credit:AP)
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An Indian shouts slogans as others enact a mock hanging during a protest demanding the death penalty for six men accused of the fatal gang rape of a young woman in New Delhi last month in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) (credit:AP)
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An Indian protestor holds a placard during a protest against last month's gang rape and murder of a student, in New Delhi on January 29, 2013. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(05 of08)
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An Indian protestor holds a balloon with a slogan during a protest against last month's gang rape and murder of a student, in New Delhi on January 27, 2013. (SAJJAD HUSSAIN/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
(06 of08)
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Indians participate in a protest against gender discrimination and sexual violence in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) (credit:AP)
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Indians shout slogans during a protest march against gender discrimination and sexual violence in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) (credit:AP)
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Indians shout slogans during a protest march against gender discrimination and sexual violence in New Delhi, India, Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri) (credit:AP)