Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday visited the acid attack and gangrape survivor who was attacked again and forced to drink acid on Thursday. Two people have been arrested in connection with the case.
35-year-old Vimla, who works at the Sheroes Hangout Cafe, is being treated in the ICU at Lucknow's King George Medical College. Adityanath has declared a Rs 1 lakh compensation for her and ordered the police force to look into the case and nab the attackers.
“It is good that the Chief Minister came but I want the men to be arrested. He told me strict action would be taken and that is what I want,” Vimla’s husband was quoted by NDTV as saying.
Vimla was going to work at the cafe when the incident happened near the Lucknow railway station.
Vimla, a gangrape survivor, had been working with Sheroes for the past few months. She had gone home to her village in Rae Bareli for Holi and was returning from there when she was attacked and forced to drink acid, Alok Dixit, a worker at Sheroes told The Quint.
Vimla’s case is now with the Government Railway Police (GRP) who have begun a primary investigation into the case. After this, the case will be handed over to the Lucknow police.
The lady reported the matter around 12 pm. She told us that 2 men forcibly fed some acid-like liquid to her near Mohanlalganj while she was traveling. Then we immediately took her to trauma centre, KGMU. Her condition is stable now. We will proceed further once we record her statement. We will take all steps to find out the culprits and there will be no lapse in the investigation.Ram Dular Yadav, DSP, GRP, Lucknow
Vimla was allegedly raped in December 2008 by a Bhondu Singh, according to a Youth Ki Awaaz story. After getting the information that she had reported the case, Bhondu Singh and his brother Guddu allegedly stabbed her in the stomach. In 2011, acid was thrown on her thrice, after which she was gangraped again in 2012.
After she joined Sheroes in 2016, the organisation received a threat letter. The culprits attempted to intimidate Sheroes into withdrawing support for her and terminating her from her job.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Lucknow, ordered police guards to be around her after Sheroes received the threat letter, but they were not present to protect her on Thursday when she was returning from her village, said Dixit.
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