UP: Another rape victim, set ablaze by accused, dies

Barely a fortnight after the death of a rape survivor, who had been set ablaze in Unnao district, another rape victim, who was also set ablaze by the accused in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur district, about 150 kilometres from here, a few days back, succumbed to her injuries at the hospital on Thursday.

According to the police sources here, the victim, who had sustained 90 per cent burn injuries, breathed her last at a hospital in Kanpur after battling for seven days.

''We could not save her despite our best efforts,'' said one of the doctors.

The victim, in her statement, had accused one Mewa Lal, who lived in her neighbourhood, of setting her ablaze after sexually assaulting her while she was alone in her house on December 14. Mewal Lal was later arrested by the police.

While her parents lodged a complaint with the police naming Mewa Lal as the accused, the police officials said that there was a possibility that the girl had been having an affair with the accused and that she might have set herself ablaze in a bid to commit suicide.

Barely a fortnight back, a rape survivor, had been set ablaze by five persons, including the two, who had allegedly raped her, while she was on way to meet her lawyer to discuss the progress of the case against the accused persons. The victim died at a Delhi hospital a day later.

Rising incidents of rapes in UP have put the BJP government in the state on the defensive and it has been facing flak from the opposition parties as well as the women's organisations.