UP rape survivor set ablaze on way to court
| Date :06-Dec-2019 |
Struggling for life with 90 per cent burns
UNNAO (UP) :
The woman was going to Rae Bareli where the trial is going on
Air-lifted to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital
Five men, including two of her rape accused, who set her on fire were arrested
Shameless, heartless, senseless cruelty coupled with criminality descended on humanity in Unnao Thursday morning when five butchers, including two of the accused, set ablaze a rape survivor who was on way to court. With 90% burns, the girl is battling for life as the cops arrested all the five criminals. The girl cried, shouted for help, and ran helter-skelter, with her body in flames, and collapsed. A frightened eye-witness placed a phone call to police and the girl herself talked to the cops.
Experts investigate the site with charred clothes where the girl was allegedly set ablaze. (PTI)
The cops took the girl first to a community centre, then to a district hospital, and then transferred her to Lucknow before air-lifting her finally to New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, where she is reported to be struggling for life with terrible burns. Delhi Police provided ‘green corridor’ for the girl’s transfer to hospital. “We have set up a dedicated ICU room for the patient. A team of doctors would be monitoring her health condition,” Dr Sunil Gupta, Medical Superintendent at Safdarjung Hospital, told PTI. She will be under the observation of Dr Shalab Kumar, Head of Burn and Plastic Surgery at the hospital. The incident reminded of a similar recent case in Hyderabad when a woman veterinarian was raped and burnt. One of the two men accused of raping her last year was granted bail 10 days back.
The other man had been on the run. All the five men were arrested within hours. The unfortunate victim of the criminality said in a statement that she was on her way from her village in Unnao district to Rae Bareli where the trial is going on when she was attacked. Medical Superintendent Dr Ashutosh Dubey of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Hospital in Lucknow said, “The condition of the girl who was set on fire and bought here at 10 am is very serious. She has 90 per cent burn injuries and we are taking the utmost care.” In the evening, the State Government arranged an air ambulance to take her to Delhi, with a team of doctors, Lucknow Commissioner Mukesh Meshram said.
In a tweet, the Uttar Pradesh Police said that the victim had lodged an FIR alleging that she had been raped between January 19 and December 12, 2018 by one of the accused on the pretext that he would marry her. The accused was arrested then and got out on bail on November 25, police said while responding to a tweet by Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. They added that the probe into the incident is being conducted in a scientific manner and the circumstantial evidence collected. In a chilling recap, the woman said in her statement to Sub Divisional Magistrate Dayashankar Pathak that she was attacked when she reached Gaura turn near her home.
Harishankar Trivedi, Ram Kishore Trivedi, Umesh Bajpai, Shivam Trivedi and Shubham Trivedi set her afire, she said. She alleged that Shivam and Shubham Trivedi had abducted and raped her in December 2018. The FIR, however, was registered in March. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed senior police and State Administration officials to visit the spot and submit a report by the evening. The Chief Minister also told officials that the woman should be given the best possible treatment. He asked police to ensure strict action against the guilty and ensure their conviction, officials said.
The Samajwadi Party demanded that the Adityanath Government should step down. The National Commission for Women (NCW) also stepped in with its chairperson Rekha Sharma writing to state Director General of Police O P Singh, seeking action taken report from the Uttar Pradesh Police and a detailed report on the reported heinous crimes committed against women and bail granted in such cases in the last three years. A similar case was recently reported from the state’s Sambhal district. The badly burnt woman later succumbed at a hospital in Delhi. Unnao has been in the spotlight after a young woman alleged that she had been raped in 2017, when she was 17 years old, allegedly by former BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar.
Eyewitness recalls horrific sight
UNNAO (UP) :
THE sight of the rape victim set afire and running for help early Thursday sent shivers down the spine of local people. Ravindra, who sitting by the roadside then, told reporters that he was so frightened that he actually went to pick up his stick. “It was only when she came nearer that I found she was severely burnt,” he said. She had been calling out for help, he added. Ravindra said he called police and the woman herself talked to them on the phone. The police arrived soon and she was taken to the local community health centre, he said. She was later transferred to a district hospital and then to Lucknow.