UP Woman Set Ablaze Allegedly By 2 Men Who Molested Her, 3 Cops Suspended

A woman was set on fire allegedly by two men in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur on Sunday. The woman, 28, had thrice tried to file police complaint but cops at the local police station sent her away. The woman has suffered about 60 per cent burns and is in a serious condition at a hospital in Sitapur.

The two accused have been identified as Rajesh and Ramu and one of them has been arrested. Cases have filed against them for sexual assault and attempt to murder.

Three policemen including the station house officer or SHO have also been suspended for dereliction of duty, said the police.

 "Two men set her on fire when she had stepped out to go to the toilet. Her face and the upper part of her body are burnt. On November 29, they tried to molest her according to her statement. She twice tried to file police complaint but was refused. Action has been taken against the cops for negligence of duty," said senior police officer of Lucknow zone, Sujeet Pandey, who is investigating the case.

Mr Pandey visited the woman at the hospital and spoke to her relatives. "My purpose of the visit was to assure the family and see that action is taken if anyone else has neglected his duty," Mr Pandey said.

Relatives of the woman told reporters that she was sexually harassed, when she was visiting her parents, by Rajesh and Ramu, two brothers, who lived in the same village. They tried to molest her earlier but she managed to escape.

Her family alleged that when she went to the local police station immediately after the accused tried to molest her, the cops on duty sent her away. The next day her in-laws called a Police Control Room or PCR van to their house but again the cops, who were in the vehicle asked her to revisit the same police station.