16 Sentenced to Death for Living Teens

Sixteen people were sentenced to death Thursday for burning a teenager alive in Bangladesh who refused to drop charges of sexual assault on her teacher.

The case highlights what activists say is a culture of impunity to sexual violence in the country of South Asia, which consists of a population of 168 million, as well as widespread abuse at about 20,000 seminars that educate mainly poor students and peasants.

Nusrat Yahan Rafi plunged into oil and set fire on April 6 after he filed sexual harassment against the leader of the rural Islamic seminar, periscope broadcasts.

The guard, who appeared in court in the southern coastal town of Feni, had ordered the brutal murder from prison, as he was among the sentenced to death.