Fatehpur rape-burn victim dies in hospital

Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh): The rape victim who was set on fire in the Ubipur village in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district on December 14, died during treatment in a hospital on Thursday morning.

She was undergoing treatment in the Lal Lajpat Rai hospital here.

The ‘uncle’, who had allegedly raped her and set her on fire, has already been arrested.

The victim, 18, who had received 90 per cent burns, had been admitted to the hospital in Kanpur on Saturday evening and her condition continued to be critical. She died due to multi-organ failure.

The victim was alone in her house on Saturday when her uncle came and raped her. When she tried to resist, he poured kerosene on her and set her on fire. The young woman ran out of the house in flames and her neighbours rushed in to douse the flames. They also informed the police.

The victim’s father said that the accused was a distantly-related uncle, aged about 25 years.

An FIR had been registered on a complaint submitted by the victim’s brother.

Interestingly, in his first complaint, the victim’s brother claimed that the girl had immolated herself after being raped, but in the second complaint, he accused the uncle of setting her on fire.

“He raped her and when she threatened to inform the family members, he set her ablaze,” the father said.

The victim, in a statement, had accused the ‘uncle’ Mewa Lal of raping her and setting her on fire.

Meanwhile, District Magistrate Sanjeev Singh told reporters that the victim was in a relationship with the ‘uncle’ for the past two years.

“A Panchayat had been convened on Saturday itself and the Panchayat members asked the couple to go their separate ways. It was decided in the presence of the parents of the girl and the ‘uncle’ that the uncle would stay away from the village until the girl was married,” said the District Magistrate.

By IANS