Woman set ablaze by policemen in Uttar Pradesh dies

 

The incident comes exactly a month after a Shahjahanpur-based journalist Jagendra Singh died after being allegedly set on fire by the cops on the directions of a minister. 

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident and the two accused cops have already been suspended. 

 

The Chief Minister told reporters that stringent action would be taken against the culprits. The woman, whose son is a journalist, with a local Hindi daily, has gone to the Kothi police station in Barabanki to secure the release of her husband who had been detained by the cops on Sunday in connection with a trivial dispute.

 

The victim’s husband, meanwhile, rejected the claims being made by the state government that that she had attempted immolation. “She has given a dying declaration (which has been video recorded) that the cops ill-treated her and misbehaved with her. She had no reason to attempt immolation,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

 

In the video, the victim is shown saying that the two accused cops often misbehaved with her when she went to work. The victim  said that other cops in the police station looked on while they attempted to rape her.

 

Sources also claim that the local police was angry with the victim’s reporter son who had been covering the local crime stories that had put the local police in a bad light. Journalists and social organizations, on Tuesday, took to the streets demanding justice for the woman and immediate arrest of the guilty police officials. Additional police force has also been deployed in the area in view of tension over the incident.

 

Senior UP minister Shivpal Yadav assured that the entire incident will be probed and strict action will be taken against the guilty. The victim’s son demanded justice for his mother and said that she would rest in peace only if the guilty were punished.