Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath on Saturday said a fast-track court would hear the case of the 23-year-old rape complainant from Unnao, who died after being set on fire by her alleged rapists, PTI reported.
The chief minister said he was “extremely sad” and expressed his grief at the woman’s death. “All the accused persons have been arrested,” Adityanath said in a statement. “The case will be taken to a fast-track court, and punishment will be given.”
The woman was allegedly raped by two brothers in Unnao last year. She had filed a case against them in March. One of the accused was on the run and the other, Shivam, was released on bail only last week. The woman was on her way to a local court for a hearing in her rape case on Thursday when she was attacked by five men – two of whom were the rape accused – and set on fire. All five men were arrested within hours.
The woman was airlifted and admitted to Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital, but died on Friday night.
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also expressed sadness and assured punishment. State Justice Minister Brajesh Pathak said the government would seek daily hearings in the case.
The woman’s father said: “All I want from the government and the authorities is that either they should be hanged or they should be shot dead, like what happened near Hyderabad. I am not greedy. I don’t want any house to be made. I don’t want anything else.”
He was referring to the police encounter that took place near Hyderabad in the early hours of Friday, in which four men accused of raping and killing a woman were shot dead when they tried to escape from custody.
Meanwhile, the woman’s brother demanded justice and said the accused would have to go to the place “where she has gone”. “She asked me that brother, please save me,” he said. “I am very sad that I could not save her.”
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reached Unnao to meet the family. “Why was the victim of Unnao gangrape case not given security keeping in mind the earlier incident,” she asked in a tweet earlier. “What action has been taken on the police official who refused to register an FIR? What steps are being taken by the government to stop crimes against women, which take place on a daily basis?”
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said the state government should make special efforts to ensure justice to the woman’s family. “To prevent such traumatic incidents all over the country, including in UP, state governments should create fear of law among people and in view of the incidents, the Centre should also make a law to ensure strict punishment by hanging to death within a stipulated time-frame,” she said in a tweet.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav protested against the death of the complainant outside the Vidhan Sabha in Uttar Pradesh. “This is an extremely condemnable incident,” he told ANI. “This is a black day. It is not the first such incident under this BJP government. The chief minister had said in this very Assembly ‘apradhiyon ko thok diya jayega’ [the culprits will be punished], they could not save the life of a daughter.”
Yadav called for the resignation of Adityanath, the state home secretary and the director general of police.
National Commission for Women Chairperson Rekha Sharma visited the hospital to meet the woman’s family. Swati Maliwal, the chairperson of Delhi Commission for Women, appealed to the state government that the accused in the case be hanged within a month.
On Friday, the woman’s uncle alleged that a relative of the main accused Shivam had threatened him.
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