UP: Police refuses to file complaint, 28 YO victim set ablaze in broad day light

Lucknow: Reporting harassment landed a victim in critical condition who is now battling for life with 60% burn injuries after she was set ablaze by two men.

The 28-year-old victim woman who was her way to report the crime for the second time against the two men after she had been turned down by the Police when she tried to file complaint two days ago.

The incident took place on Saturday in Sitapur following which the victim was rushed to the district hospital while to accused were arrested on Sunday.

Initial findings in the case reveal the victim as well the two accused are Dalits.

Taking stringent action in the case, DGP O P Singh has ordered the suspension of Tambor SHO Om Prakash Saroj for laxity in supervision while head constable Chedilal was suspended for not attending the victim and registering her complaint.

“An inquiry by IGP (Lucknow range) Sujeet Pandey is underway to ascertain the role of the local police outpost in-charge, Manoj Kumar. We are probing the extent of negligence on the part of Manoj Kumar to initiate stringent action,” the DGP told sources.

According to the Police, the victim said she was intercepted by the two accused when she was on her way to her in-laws’ house in an adjacent village on November 29.

The duo passed lewd remarks and tried to molest her but she somehow managed to flee and reached Tambor police station to file a complaint against the two accused who are brother.

But the Police turned her down and sent her away refusing to file a complaint.

On reaching her in-laws place she narrated the whole incident following which the her family members informed UP 100 about the incident on November 30.

Though the Police team arrived at the victim’s home they returned without taking any action and asked the family members to file a written complaint at Tambor police station.

It was when the victim was on her way to file the complaint on December 1, the two accused intercepted her near a sugar cane field in Kuraiya and set her ablaze by pouring kerosene. The locals who heard her cry rushed her to the hospital.

The woman later gave her statement to the magistrate and narrated the whole incident, TOI reports.

Sitapur SP Prabhakar Chaudhary reporting on the crime said the two accused Rajesh and Ramu were arrested on Sunday afternoon and booked for sexual assault and attempted murder.

“Since both the victim and the accused are Dalits, sections of the SC/ST Act have not been used,” Chaudhary said.