Oksana Makar

The murder of Oksana Makar took place in March 2012 in Ukraine, garnering extensive media coverage both at home and abroad and leading to mass protests. Oksana Makar, aged 18, was attacked by three men in the city of Mykolaiv on 8 March 2012: she was raped, strangled, set alight and left to die, though she survived another three weeks after being taken to hospital. Her case became a cause célèbre in Ukraine when only one of the attackers was charged by the police. The other two, whose parents were reported to be former government officials, were released on police bail, allegedly because of the personal connections of their parents. They were later rearrested after a public outcry, and mass protests on 13 March. Protests demanding justice, to gather funds and encourage blood donations continued after the arrest as well.