“She came running, screaming for help,” said Ravindra Prakash, who was witness to a horrific incident where a rape survivor from Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, was set on fire while she was on her way to court in Rae Bareli on Thursday, 5 December.
“I was alarmed when I saw her. I immediately asked who she was. She told me she is Ram Kishan Lohar's daughter,” said Prakash, a resident of a village in Unnao.
“Her body was on fire and she was running. For a moment I thought, she was a witch. I picked an axe in defence, but when I learned who she was, I stepped back.” he continued.
The survivor has reportedly sustained 90 percent burns. The next 48-72 hours are critical for the survivor, doctors told The Quint.
‘Made Her Speak to Police from My Phone’
Prakash told reporters that the survivor had been running in that state for a kilometer before he spotted her.
“We dialed 100 and put the phone in front of her face so that she could talk to the police. After a while, police came and took her.”
In a chilling recap of the incident, the woman told Sub Divisional Magistrate Dayashankar Pathak that she was on her way to Rae Bareli to attend a trial of her rape case.
When she reached the Gaura turn, near her home, five men — Harishankar Trivedi, Ram Kishore Trivedi, Umesh Bajpai, Shivam Trivedi and Shubham Trivedi — attacked her and set her on fire.
She added in her claim that two of these men, Shivam and Shubham Trivedi, had abducted and raped her in December 2018.
All the five men who have been accused of setting her on fire, including the two accused in her rape case, have been arrested by Uttar Pradesh Police.
After rescuing her, police is said to have sent her to the Community Health Centre, from where she was shifted to the district hospital and then to a hospital in Lucknow.
“The condition of the girl who was set on fire and bought to Lucknow at 10 am is very serious. She has 90 percent burn injuries and we are taking utmost care. A team of doctors are observing her,” Dr Ashutosh Dubey, medical superintendent of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Hospital, told PTI.
(With inputs from PTI)
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