Ukrainian Gang Rape Victim Dies

Oksana Makar, the 18-year-old Ukrainian woman who was gang raped, nearly strangled, and set on fire, died today in the hospital, the Kyiv Post reports. Makar suffered burns on 55% of her body following the crime three weeks ago, and had had her feet and one of her arm amputated, amidst an almost daily barrage of surgeries. She died in part of bleeding in her lungs.

Makar's case has sparked protests in the Ukraine—two of the suspects are reportedly sons of former high-level government officials, and they were initially released after their arrests for lack of evidence. But in a leaked video of his interrogation, one suspect calmly explains how he raped Makar, then choked her, first with his hands and then with a cable. He says they did not set her on fire intentionally, and had believed she was dead when they left her body in an abandoned building. (More Oksana Makar stories.)