A 23-year-old woman from Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district, who had filed a rape case against two men from her village in March this year, is critical after she was set on fire this morning outside her village by five men when she was headed to a local court for hearing in the rape case. Three men, including one of the rape-accused, have been arrested for setting the woman on fire, said police. The rape-accused was on the run.The woman has suffered 60-70 per cent burn injuries, said officials. She has now been rushed to a specialised hospital in Lucknow for further treatment.
"We got the information in the morning. The woman gave the names of the accused. We have formed teams to arrest the accused. Three men have already been arrested. We are on a lookout for another two men," said Vikrant Vir, a senior police official in Unnao.
In March, the woman had filed a first information report against two men from her paternal village in Unnao, accusing them of raping her and also filming the act. The FIR was filed in the neighbouring Rae Bareli district reportedly after the intervention of a local court.
One of the accused was later arrested by the UP Police but he had managed to get bail. The other accused was never arrested. Cops claim they attached his property and had issued a lookout notices against him.
"Our first priority is to save the woman. The criminal justice system has three-four compartments but we do not work like that. I do not want to blame anyone. The fact is that we did arrest one of the accused. I will get more facts on the case but I am sure that the local police would have opposed the bail application of the rape-accused," UP Director General of Police OP Singh told NDTV.
Footage from the local hospital in Unnao where the woman was initially taken show the woman on a stretcher being put into an ambulance, surrounded by many policemen and senior officers.(With inputs from NDTV)