Tragedy: 23-Year Old Rape Victim Sets Herself Ablaze

Tragedy: 23-Year Old Rape Victim Sets Herself Ablaze

A 23-year-old rape victim, who set herself on fire outside the office of Superintendent of Police (SP) in Unnao, India on December 16, has died in a Kanpur hospital.

According to India Today, the deceased had alleged that the police were not acting on her complaint against an accused rapist, Avadesh Singh.  Therefore, in protest, she reached the SP office in Unnao on December 16 and poured kerosene on herself and set herself on fire, walking into the office in flames.

She died on Saturday night. She claimed that he had promised to marry her, but was now refusing to acknowledge the relationship. A case of rape was registered against Avadesh Singh, but the latter had obtained anticipatory bail from the court.

The police had filed the charge sheet against the accused. The cops immediately doused the flames and took the woman to the district hospital from where she was referred to the Lal Lajpat Rai hospital in Kanpur. She suffered 70 percent burns.

The doctors said she developed swelling in her abdomen and respiratory organs, and had been put on a ventilator since Saturday morning. According to SP Unnao Vikrant Veer, the woman was in a relationship with the accused for several years.  She had lodged a complaint against him on October 2 , accusing him of having sexually exploited her.