Oksana Makar dead: Ukranian teen who posted video describing gang-rape dies from injuries

Mike Gallagher

Mar 29, 2012 - 20:18

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Oksana Makar dead: Ukranian teen who posted video describing gang-rape dies from injuries

Tragic: Oksana Makar claimed before she died she was gang-raped, dumped in a ditch and set on fire by three men

KIEV, Ukraine — An 18-year-old Ukranian woman died Thursday, two weeks after her grisly rape set off protests across the country against corruption and favoritism toward the wealthy.

Prosecutors said Oksana Makar was raped by three young men on March 9 in the southe city of Mykolaiv. The men then tried to cover up their crime by strangling her, dumping her naked body at an abandoned construction site and setting her on fire.

Makar miraculously survived and battled for her life for more than two weeks. She suffered bus over more than half of her body and severe damage to her lungs, and her right arm was amputated to stop the gangrene.

Health officials in the easte city of Donetsk, where she was being treated, said she died Thursday after succumbing to her injuries.

$\"Harrowing:$

Harrowing: In the video, Oksana Makar, 18, looks in pain as her mother, Tetyana Surovitska, urges her to describe her horrific ordeal by saying 'a couple of words to Ukraine'

$\"Painful:$

Painful: The fire stripped off 55 per cent of her skin and surgeons had to amputate one of her arms and both her feet as they tried and eventually failed to keep her alive

Makar"s mother, Tatyana Surovitska, was in shock and declined to speak to The Associated Press.

The crime outraged Ukrainians with its cruelty. It also galvanized a society frustrated with official corruption after police released two of the suspects who had powerful connections in the region. Their release led to nationwide protests, which prompted the authorities to re-arrest the two suspects.

Interior Ministry Volodymyr Polishchuk said Thursday that after Makar"s death all three suspects were charged with murder in addition to rape.