Controversy over death of girl raped and burned in Ukraine

• Girl, 18, incredibly survived ordeal after being left for dead.
• When questioned as to what punishment her attackers should receive the teen replies their testicles should be cut off and fed to dogs.
• She suffered 50% burns and needed arm and feet amputated.
• Naked protesters lead mass outcry at sloppy police investigation

On the night of 8-9 March, Oksana Makar was brutally raped by three men in her home city of Mykolaiv in the southern Ukraine. When she threatened to go to the police, the men strangled her and then, thinking she was dead, decided to burn her corpse.

She was, however, still alive and lay for ten hours before being discovered with horrific burns on 55% of her body. She was taken to a specialist burns unit in Donetsk, where doctors tried to save her life, but she died three weeks later from bleeding in her lungs, which had been severely damaged during her ordeal.

Oksana’s mother, Tatyana Surovitskaya, who went with her to Donetsk, collected money to pay for her daughter’s treatment, but in fact put it in a deposit account, as the treatment was covered by the burns unit and contributions from charities. At the hospital Surovitskaya recorded a video of her daughter on her mobile phone. ‘They should be shot, and their balls torn off and fed to the dogs. Or just send them to prison and see what happens to them there!’, was the young woman’s verdict on her attackers.

March 29, 2012 ; Ukrainian health authorities say an 18-year-old woman whose rape and attempted murder shocked the country has died.

Prosecutors say Oksana Makar was raped by three young men on March 9 in the southern city of Mykolaiv.

The assailants then tried to strangle her and set her on fire.

She survived but was hospitalized with severe burns and damage to her lungs.

Health officials in the eastern city of Donetsk, where she was treated, said she died on March 29 after battling for her life for nearly three weeks.

The crime shocked Ukrainians and sparked nationwide protests against corruption after police initially released two of the suspects whose parents were former regional government officials.

All three suspects were eventually arrested and charged with rape and one with attempted murder.

In memories of Oksana Makar

The Suspects 

PROTEST

 

Bare necessities: Women's rights group Femen protest naked outside the state prosecutor's office in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev to demand tough punishment for three men accused of raping and set alight an 18-year-old woman.

Outcry: Campaigners were also angry at the perceived leniency handed down to the arrested men, two of whom were initially released over 'lack of evidence'