A 17-year-old rape victim from Dhandari Kalan of Ludhiana succumbed to burns she sustained after the molesters set her on fire last week for reporting the matter to the police.
She died early on Tuesday at the Chandigarh Government Medical College and Hospital. The incident has angered residents of Prem Nagar locality, forcing the city police to deploy extra personnel.
While the father of the class 12 student has vowed to pursue the matter till he gets justice, her mother says her daughter’s life could have been saved had the police apprehended the accused after their earlier complaint.
Meanwhile, the police reportedly arrested of four of the six accused who were identified by the victim in her dying statement. They are Shahzad, Anwar, Vicky and Babbu.
A murder case has been registered against them.
On October 29, the girl and her family had registered a complaint at the Sahnewal police station that Shahzad, Vicky and Babbu had kidnapped the victim on October 25 and raped her at some unidentified place. The victim's family alleged that since then they had been under pressure and were threatened by friends and relatives of the accused to withdraw the case.
On December 4, the accused, accompanied by three others, forced their way into the house of the victim's family, poured kerosene and set her ablaze. She was first rushed to the local Civil hospital with nearly 80 per cent burns. From there she was referred to the Rajendra Hospital in Patiala and finally to the Government medical college and hospital in Chandigarh, where her condition became critical.
Ludhiana Police Commissioner Pramod Bhan has been quoted as saying that the three accused were arrested after the complaint of rape was made against them, but they secured bail last week.
