A woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat district has been warned of consequences “worse than Unnao”, NDTV reported on Thursday. The warning was allegedly issued by a man from her village accused of raping her in Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar area last year.
The Unnao reference was to a rape complainant who was burned alive by her alleged rapists and their friends earlier this month. She died of her burn injuries.
A pamphlet warning the woman from Baghpat was stuck on the door of her home. In it, she was warned against giving a statement to a Delhi court that is hearing her case on Friday. The warning letter surfaced a day after the alleged rapist – identified as Sohran Singh – was released on bail, reported IANS. He had been arrested by Delhi Police after the woman registered a police complaint in July.
“She said that the incident took place about a year ago when she was taken to a friend’s place by Sohran where she was given drugs in a beverage and then raped,” said Superintendent of Police Pratap Gopendra. “The accused made a video of the incident and used it to blackmail and rape the victim again.”
Singh was arrested in Baraut and the police said they were investigating his role in putting up the threatening poster. The accused claimed that some of his enemies in the village had put up the pamphlet to frame him.
After the Unnao incident, the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh approved a proposal to set up 218 fast-track courts to hear cases of sexual crimes against women and children. State Justice Minister Brajesh Pathak said the chief minister had expressed concerns about rising crimes against women.
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