A woman who set herself on fire on Thursday after allegedly being gangraped died of burn injuries in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur on Friday, reported NDTV. She had set herself and her 12-year-old son ablaze at a police station after officers allegedly refused to file a First Information Report for her rape complaint. Her son is in a stable condition in hospital.
Three policemen have been suspended and a criminal case has been filed against them. The woman’s husband has now filed an FIR for the alleged rape, and police have arrested one of the accused.
Shahjahanpur police chief Shivasimpi Chanappa told NDTV that a government official recorded the woman’s dying declaration, in which she claimed that the police had refused to file the rape complaint.
The incident took place in a village under Paraur police station. “My wife was raped by Vinay while she was alone at home,” The Times of India quoted the woman’s husband as saying. “We had approached the Paraur police station but officers there refused to lodge a complaint and asked us to reach a compromise instead.”
On Thursday, the woman allegedly locked herself in a room, poured kerosene, and set herself on fire. “She suffered 70% burn injuries and died at a nearby community health centre during treatment,” said the husband.
Station House Officer Subhash Kumar, however, claimed the police had not refused to file a complaint, reported The Times of India. “It was the woman’s husband who had wanted to come to a compromise and not file a complaint,” he said.
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