Azamgarh: A 17-year-old Dalit girl after getting allegedly assaulted was set on fire by a 19-year-old boy in Azamgarh as she refused to give the boy her contact number. The victim who has been admitted to Shiv Prasad Gupta Hospital suffered 80 percent burns and is critical.
The accused Mohammad Shafi was sent to jail on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the chairman of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Commission, Brij Lal, met her family on the same day and promised a compensation of Rs 8.5 lakh, apart from the cost of her treatment. He also promised a house for victim’s family under the Pradhanmantri Awas Yojna, as per a report by The Indian Express.
“I first went to Varanasi to meet the victim. She has suffered around 80 per cent burn injuries, but she was able to narrate to me the whole incident. Later, I met her mother in Azamgarh,” Lal told the IE. He also instructed the police to safeguard the family.
The accused and the girl were friends and would talk over the phone. However, she recently stopped talking to him. “On Monday, Shafi went to her house to ask for her new number, after she refused…the youth assaulted the victim and then set her ablaze,” said Azamgarh Sadar circle officer Akmal Khan.