A 23-year-old woman from Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh is battling for life after she was set ablaze on Thursday allegedly by five persons, including two she had accused of rape in March last year.
After treatment at a community health centre in Unnao and at a government hospital in Lucknow, she was air-lifted to Delhi. She was critical with about 95% burns, doctors said.
All the five accused persons were arrested, the Unnao police said.
Superintendent of Police, Unnao, Vikrant Vir said the police received information through the Dial 112 emergency service that the accused had tried to burn the victim.
While reports said the woman was going to attend a court hearing in Rae Bareli related to the rape case, S.K. Bhagat, IG, Lucknow, said she was going to meet her lawyer. The incident took place around 4.15 a.m., Mr. Bhagat said.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered tough action against the culprits.
In her declaration, she mentioned that one of the two persons accused of raping her, had been looking to take revenge against her ever since he was released after being granted bail by the Allahabad High Court on November 30, said Mr. Bhagat.
The woman was allegedly out to catch an early morning train to Rae Bareli when the five accused persons surrounded her near a village intersection and attacked her and set her ablaze after pouring kerosene on her.
The accused were identified as Shivam Trivedi and Shubham Trivedi, who are the two accused of rape, their fathers Ramkishor Trivedi and Harishankar Trivedi, and a fifth person Umesh Bajpai.
The Chief Minister directed the Divisional Commissioner Lucknow and IGP to immediately inspect the crime scene and submit a report .
The rape survivor was airlifted to Delhi for treatment at Safdurjung hospital.
A team of U.P. police from Noida also arrived at the IGI airport to receive the survivor and accompany her till the hospital.
“We created a green corridor to shift the rape survivor to the Safdurjung hospital from the IGI airport, covering a distance of around 13 km in 18 minutes,” said a Delhi police officer.
The injured woman has been admitted to the burns ward and a team of doctors is monitoring her treatment.
( With inputs from Saurabh Trivedi)