Unnao girl waylaid on way to court, suffers 90% burns, airlifted to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital; all 5 held
Barely a week after the brutal gang-rape and murder of a veterinarian in Hyderabad, a rape survivor was set ablaze by five men, including two rape accused, while she was on her way to a Rae Bareli court to attend hearing in the rape case, in Unnao in the wee hours of Thursday. Two men involved in the heinous act are accused of raping her last year, and were granted bail 10 days back.
The victim, with 90 per cent burn injuries, was rushed to Unnao District Hospital then to Civil Hospital in Lucknow, and then airdashed to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital later on Thursday evening.
All five accused, including rape accused Shivam Trivedi and Shubham Trivedi, were arrested in raids carried out soon after the incident.
As per reports, the rape survivor had left her Hindunagar village home to go to the railway station to catch a train to Rae Bareli to attend the hearing in the rape case against Shivam and Shubham.
In an isolated stretch, she was waylaid by her “rapists” Shubham and Shivam and three accomplices around 4.30 am. They doused her with kerosene and set her on fire.
In a chilling recap, the woman said in her statement to Subdivisional Magistrate Dayashankar Pathak that she was attacked when she reached Gaura turn near her home. She has named Shivam Trivedi, Shubham Trivedi, Harishankar Trivedi, Ram Kishore Trivedi, Umesh Bajpai in the report.
Earlier, in January 2018, the girl had married Shivam Trivedi against her parents’ wishes and owing to family pressure the couple separated. Following which, Shivam and Shubham raped her in Rae Bareli, and the woman filed a rape case against them at Lalganj police station in March.
Police said, “The victim was alone when she was set afire. No one from her family was with her as she left her home on Thursday morning. After being set ablaze, she ran for a kilometre before a villager rescued her and called police.”
The rescuer, Ravindra Prakash, said the victim ran for about a kilometre while crying for help. “At first, I thought she was a witch as she was burning profusely, but when she said her father’s name, I reacted,” Ravindra said.
Ravindra then dialed 112 and the victim herself talked to the police. Soon after, a police van and an ambulance rushed to the spot. She was first rushed to the community hospital in Unnao and then to District hospital and then to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Hospital in Lucknow where doctors said her condition is “very serious”.
“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,” said Medical Superintendent Dr Ashutosh Dubey.
In the evening, the woman was airlifted to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi. A “green corridor” was created to move her from the hospital to Amausi airport to ensure there was no delay due to traffic in Lucknow. The Delhi Traffic Police also provided a green corridor for the vehicle that carried her from the airport to Safdurjung Hospital.
UP Police chief OP Singh said, “The police had done its work by arresting them (rapists) in March. How they were given bail was the matter of the court. In this case too, the police acted swiftly and arrested all five accused.”
Meanwhile, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath the authorities to approach the court for cancelling the bail of the rape accused and invoke stringent sections of the IPC against them for the gory crime. On his intervention, the victim was later air-lifted to New Delhi for treatment.
In a statement issued in Lucknow on Thursday morning, Yogi directed Divisional Commissioner of Lucknow, Mukesh Meshram and IG (Lucknow Range) SK Bhagat to visit Unnao and submit their reports on the incident.
Meanwhile, the Rajya Sabha members raised the issue and the House was adjourned twice on Thursday.
Meanwhile, taking serious note of the incident, National Commission for Women (NCW) directed the UP DGP to send his report to the Commission at the earliest. The NCW has also asked the UP Police to send all cases related to rape and other crimes against women where the accused were granted bail in the past three years.
In her letter, NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma said that the Commission was disturbed with the rise in crimes against women in Uttar Pradesh, despite enactment of several laws to safeguard women’s rights.
“Considering the gravity of the matter of Unnao case, it is requested to send a detailed action taken report in the matter from the date of filing complaint of rape by the survivor and action taken against erring officials for not providing protection to the victim,” she wrote.
Sharma further said that in addition, a detailed report regarding the number of reported heinous crimes against women and bail granted in such cases across the State in the last three years be sent to the Commission at an early date.
