New Delhi: In Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao, a group of men on Monday set ablaze the house of a minor Dalit girl whom two of them had allegedly raped in February last year. Two infants were critically injured in the fire – including the 11-year-old minor’s six-month-old son (she had been impregnated during the rape) and the victim’s two-month-old sister.
According to PTI, the two men who had allegedly raped the girl barged into her family’s thatched shed on Monday evening, beat up her mother and set the house on fire. The girl had earlier refused to drop the rape case against them.
Chief medical superintendent Sushil Srivastava told PTI that the rape victim’s son suffered 35% burns and her sister 45% burns. They have both been shifted to Kanpur for treatment.
The victim’s mother, according to PTI, has said that the fire was set to kill the victim’s son, as he was born as a result of the rape.
This is not the first attack the victim’s family is facing because of their refusal to withdraw the rape case – on April 13, her father was attacked with an axe by her grandfather and uncle, who sided with the accused, and four other people. He has identified the men who attacked him, but no action has reportedly been taken. In a video of her father, he can be heard saying that he complained to the police but they did not act upon it.
While all eyes are on #AtiqueAhmed, 2 INFANTS with major BURNS are struggling for their LIVES.
One of the babies was born after a minor Dalit girl’s alleged gang-rape in Unnao last yr. 2 accused got bail last week, beat up victim’s father, cops took no action. And this happened pic.twitter.com/aV2hGoj9Jm
— Tanushree Panday (@TanushreePande) April 18, 2023
The girl’s father is currently admitted in a district hospital.
Just a day earlier, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath had boasted of the law and order situation in the state, saying, “UP guarantees you (businessmen) the best law and order situation.”