Police laxity emboldened criminals: Kin

LUCKNOW : The family members of the 20-year-old newly-wed woman, who was set afire in a village in Sitapur on Saturday afternoon for allegedly resisting a molestation bid by two brothers, said they did not get any help from the police which emboldened the accused.

“My sister and I met circle officer of Biswan area Tauqeer Ahmed on Friday. I told him that two brothers, Raju and Rajesh Bhargav, were harassing my sister and we feared for her life,” the victim’s elder brother told HT on Monday.

A day after they met the CO, the two brothers, who are in their late 20s, followed the woman to a nearby sugarcane field, where she had gone to relieve herself. They asked her to withdraw her complaint and when she refused, they poured kerosene on her and set her afire.

The woman continues to battle for her life at Sitapur district hospital.

Chief medical superintendent of Sitapur Anil Agarwal said: “She has received over 45 per cent burns and has sustained injuries on her face, neck, back and abdomen.”

He said the woman’s condition was critical but stable.

The accused brothers were arrested on Sunday after an FIR of molestation and attempt to murder was lodged against them at Tambaur police station.

According to the woman’s family, the accused harassed her on several occasions.

“They used indecent words whenever they found her outside the house. The situation turned so bad that my sister even stopped stepping out of the house,” the victim’s brother said.

She was married in Nagrauli area on Sitapur last year and had come to her parents’ place last week.

“We warned Raju and Rajesh that we will take the matter to the police but they didn’t budge and continued to harass her. We decided to approach the police,” he said.

The family met local police outpost in-charge Manoj Kumar who, they alleged, refused to accept their complaint.

They then reached Tambaur police station to meet station house officer OP Saroj but to no avail.

“Saroj asked us to take the complaint back to the outpost in-charge. When I tried to tell him more about the complaint, he asked us to leave. We were pushed out of the police station by two constables,” the woman’s brother alleged.

Taking cognizance of the incident, director general of police (DGP) OP Singh asked inspector general of police, Lucknow, Sujeet Pandey, to rush to Sitapur to look into the matter.

The DGP said a report on the matter had also been sought from superintendent of police (SP) Prabhakar Chaudhary, additional superintendent of police (ASP) Madhuvan Kumar Singh and circle officer Tauqeer Ahmed.

The incident led to the suspension of three policemen – in-charge of Tambaur police station OP Saroj, local police outpost in-charge Manoj Kumar and head constable Chedi Lal.

The IG said initial probe clearly suggested police negligence.

“Three cops have been suspended and a department inquiry initiated against them. I visited the Sitapur district hospital to learn about the victim’s condition and have ordered stern action against the accused,” he said.