The victim's shocked family members on Friday declared they would not accept her body for the last rites till the police nabbed the culprits responsible for the heinous crime.
Taking a strong view of the incident, the Maharashtra State Commission for Women (MSCW) has ordered the Chunabhatti Police Station to submit its detailed investigation report by August 31, register a rape-cum-murder case and extend financial assistance to the victim's family as per the laws.
The leader of opposition Vijay Wadettiwar demanded a CBI probe while the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) took out a procession from Chembur to Chunabhatti Police Station on Friday afternoon, to protest the rape incident in particular and the growing atrocities on women in general.
A delegation of Mumbai NCP President Nawab Malik, NCP MP Supriya Sule, legislator Vidya Chavan and others called on Director-General of Police Subodh Jaiswal demanding protection for the victim's family.
Accompanied by the victim's brother, the NCP leaders also raised the issue of growing incidents of crimes against women in different parts of Maharashtra, urged him to take concrete preventive measures, and submitted a memorandum to Jaiswal.
The incident, which sent shockwaves among people, occurred when the girl had come from Aurangabad to Mumbai and was allegedly gang-raped by four of her friends after celebrating her birthday that evening (July 7).
However, she left for Aurangabad the next morning and kept her ordeal a secret from her family and police for several days.
The crime came to light only after she suffered severe pain in her private parts, in the third week of July, several days after the incident.
She was rushed to a hospital in Begumpura (in Aurangabad), where the doctors suspected it to be rape case and summoned the police. The reported the case on August 3.
Finally, she revealed the details of the incident, how after cutting a birthday cake, the four friends overpowered and gang-raped her at the home of one of the unidentified boys in Chunabhatti.
The Begumpura Police swung into action by registering a 'Zero' first information report (FIR) on July 30 and immediately transferred the case to Chunabhatti Police for further investigations.
Meanwhile, the victim's condition turned critical owing to multiple internal injuries due to the gang-rape and she finally succumbed late on Wednesday.
( With inputs from IANS )