Last week, a 24-year-old woman who had set herself and a friend on fire outside the Supreme Court, died from burn injuries. The male, a 27-year-old graduate from Delhi University died on Saturday during treatment. On August 16, the woman, a student in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district came to Delhi with a friend. On the same day, they recorded a Facebook Live video, in which the woman said she had lodged a rape complaint against BSP MP Atul Rai, and claimed that senior IPS officers and a judge from Uttar Pradesh were ‘part of a nexus’.
The woman sustained 85% burns and the man 65%. An official at the RML Hospital, where they were admitted, said, ‘We operated on them the day they were brought in, but they had severe burn injuries, so treatment was difficult for them’. Rai is alleged to have raped the woman in March 2018. According to an FIR filed on May 1, 2019, the woman met Rai while contesting student union elections and had sought financial help from him. Rai called the women to his Varanasi apartment on March 7, 2018, and sexually assaulted her. She alleged that BSP MP had filmed the assault and threatened to share it on social media.
On June 22, 2019, Rai surrendered to a court and was placed in judicial custody. He remains behind bars. He stood for and won, the Ghosi Lok Sabha elections while in jail. ‘Prayagraj’s local court is hearing the rape case. The court has examined nine prosecution witnesses. A court must record the statement of the accused. In the meantime, the defence will have their witnesses’ statements examined in court,’ said district government counsel, Gulab Chandra Agrihari.
Meanwhile, Rai’s brother Pavan Kumar, filed a complaint in Varanasi against the woman for forging documents. He alleged that the date of birth mentioned by the woman was different in two different cases. According to him, in 2015 when she produced her High school mark sheet while filing a complaint against student leader on molestation charges, her date of birth was listed as March 10, 1997, whereas when she file the case against Rai in 2019 her mark sheet indicated her date of birth as June 10, 1997.
A case was lodged against the woman under IPC Section 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc), 468 (purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) in Varanasi. She was charged with a non-bailable warrant after the police informed the court that she ‘remains untraceable despite several raids’.
The woman’s parents, who live in UP’s Ballia, said they didn’t know when she traveled to Delhi. ‘She didn’t tell us anything about her case. The MP and his associates had been harassing her since 2019. We offered to help, but she claimed to handle it herself. They wanted us to withdraw the case, but we refused. They also showed us some videos and threatened us, but my daughter said she would fight,’ her father told The Indian Express. ‘It is unclear why a non-bailable warrant was issued against my daughter despite the fact that she did not abscond. She was disappointed and upset. The government should take strict action against the policemen. She was harassed and tortured. It would be helpful if we knew more,’ he said.
Her brother claimed the police never came to investigate her while she was at home. The woman’s family will return her body to UP for the last rites. Based on the video and the man’s social media profile, the Delhi Police have launched an investigation and have registered a case under IPC Section 309 (attempted suicide) against unknown persons. Police found that the woman had come to Delhi last month to protest against senior UP officials who were allegedly helping MP Rai.
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In July, they came to Delhi but returned to Prayagraj. She could not be reached. Her family and friends were also clueless of her location and plans. The couple came to Delhi on August 16 to film the video. ‘We are speaking with their family members’, said a senior police officer. The UP government has set up a two-member committee, headed by a DG, to investigate this case. ‘It is unfortunate they died. We are conducting an investigation and have already suspended two officers last week. Delhi Police and the DG-level committee will submit a report soon. We will then take further action in the matter,’ said Prashant Kumar, ADG (Law and Order) in UP.
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