Woman tries self-immolation to protest anti-encroachment drive in UP's Unnao

A woman set her hut on fire in front of a revenue department team that had arrived to remove encroachment from government land in Vikram Kheda area of Itkuti village under Hasanganj tehsil, authorities said on Friday.

The woman also reportedly attempted to commit suicide, along with her children, by pouring kerosene on her but was desisted by locals, said a revenue department official.

According to the official, a team of the department had gone to the village Thursday after receiving several complaints of encroachment.

When the team asked Ajay, a squatter, to clear the spot, his wife set her hut on fire, the official said, adding that the whole exchange took place in the presence of the village head and other villagers.

Hasanganj Sub-Divisional Officer (SDM) Ankit Shukla said several complaints had been received earlier too about a 'pucca' construction on government land by Ajay in Vikram Kheda and he was asked to remove it.

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Ajay removed the encroachment, but after some time raised a tin shed again, the SDM said.

The accused is a beneficiary of a government housing scheme and was constructing that house on government land, he said.

On the incident of self-immolation attempt, Shukla said the woman did not do anything as long as the revenue team was in the village.

Later when the team left, however, it was found that she did make such an attempt and was thwarted by the villagers, he said.

On February 13, a middle-aged woman and her daughter allegedly set themselves ablaze in their hut during an anti-encroachment campaign in Madauli village under Rura police station area of Kanpur Dehat district. Both of them died.

After the incident, the state BJP government had come under fire from the opposition parties, which lambasted its use of bulldozers for removing illegal buildings.