Woman torched to death by inlaws on International Women's Day in India
AGRA. It could serve as a well-placed slap in the face of the the groups of so-called women's rights activists who all too recently celebrated International Women’s Day, fervently praising the contribution made by women to the society and vowing to prevent violence against the feminine gender comfortably ensconced in luxurious clubs and hotels.
While the world was busy celebrating women’s day, a young girl was murdered in cold-blood, torched to death by her in-laws in Kayamganj town of Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh, alongwith a 6-month fetus inside her, just three years after marriage.
Two weeks have passed since the grisly murder but the local police appears to be in no hurry to catch the absconding in-laws who doused the girl in kerosene and left her to burn and die on the street, making good their escape while the locals awaited for the police to arrive. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother Archana Sharma has suffered from a stroke, rendering her paralyzed.
Angry over the layback attitude adapted by the police towards the case, the victim girl’s younger sister Soni has charged that the police was deliberately delaying the arrests so that the culprits may conveniently threaten and influence the eyewitnesses who had seen her elder sister being torched to death by the accused in-laws. She said that her family did not have any trust in the investigation being performed by the local police and she has requested an appointment with the UP Chief Minister Mayawati, seeking her
According to the Farrukhabad SP Kashi Nath Singh, the investigation was underway. He claimed that the police was aware of the location of the absconding in-laws and they could be arrested any time, although he could not explain the reason behind a two week delay in making the arrests.
23 years old Sweta had been seen running, engulfed in flames and crying out for help on the streets of Sadwada area in Kayamganj on the evening of 8th March. The girl, who had been married to a local tuition teacher Saurabh Mishra in 2006, died right there, on the street, in the absence of medical aid and the callous attitude of the police towards the incident was evident from the fact that the body continued to lie in the street covered with a tattered gunnybag till Monday morning.
Sweta’s younger sister Soni, who filed an FIR against six in-laws of the victim under 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 and sections 498A, 323, 504 and 304B of IPC in Kayamganj Kotwali, claimed that that Sweta had been burned to death by her husband and other in-laws and she was trying to save herself by running out on the streets even as the kerosene fueled flames continued to devour her flesh.
The post mortem report of the victim shows that she was not being given anything to eat as a part of the torture she was being subjected to, a fact that was confirmed by the locals who had been observing the family. The report also showed that the victim girl was carrying a 6-month fetus inside her.
The neighbors, who tried to save the girl by pouring water and sand on her while she fought against the flames, informed that the couple had been married on 6 July 2006 on the premise that her husband Saurabh Mishra was a lecturer in a local inter college, when he merely ran a coaching class in the locality. Ever since the wedding, Sweta had been subjected to brutal torture by her in-laws, but she continued to study, topping her Master’s degree in Arts from Agra university.
This torture had already caused an abortion in 2007, when Saurabh had kicked her off the stairs, causing an 8 month pregnancy to abort, jeopardizing the girl’s life. The victim’s family claims that Sweta’s in-laws were demanding Rs. 5 lakhs and when their demand could not be met, they killed her.
According to the neighbors, Sweta had been going hungry for the past 3-4 days with the in-laws preventing her from eating anything. The neighbors had been trying to help her by stealthily giving her some food to sustain herself and her 6-month pregnancy.
But on Sunday, the girl’s ordeal ended into a disaster, when Saurabh and his family decided to murder her through the age-old way of setting her afire with kerosene. Aflame, Sweta managed to reach the gate of the house but could not escape the clutches of death even after rushing out on the street.
While the world was busy celebrating women’s day, a young girl was murdered in cold-blood, torched to death by her in-laws in Kayamganj town of Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh, alongwith a 6-month fetus inside her, just three years after marriage.
Two weeks have passed since the grisly murder but the local police appears to be in no hurry to catch the absconding in-laws who doused the girl in kerosene and left her to burn and die on the street, making good their escape while the locals awaited for the police to arrive. Meanwhile, the victim’s mother Archana Sharma has suffered from a stroke, rendering her paralyzed.
Angry over the layback attitude adapted by the police towards the case, the victim girl’s younger sister Soni has charged that the police was deliberately delaying the arrests so that the culprits may conveniently threaten and influence the eyewitnesses who had seen her elder sister being torched to death by the accused in-laws. She said that her family did not have any trust in the investigation being performed by the local police and she has requested an appointment with the UP Chief Minister Mayawati, seeking her
According to the Farrukhabad SP Kashi Nath Singh, the investigation was underway. He claimed that the police was aware of the location of the absconding in-laws and they could be arrested any time, although he could not explain the reason behind a two week delay in making the arrests.
23 years old Sweta had been seen running, engulfed in flames and crying out for help on the streets of Sadwada area in Kayamganj on the evening of 8th March. The girl, who had been married to a local tuition teacher Saurabh Mishra in 2006, died right there, on the street, in the absence of medical aid and the callous attitude of the police towards the incident was evident from the fact that the body continued to lie in the street covered with a tattered gunnybag till Monday morning.
Sweta’s younger sister Soni, who filed an FIR against six in-laws of the victim under 3/4 Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 and sections 498A, 323, 504 and 304B of IPC in Kayamganj Kotwali, claimed that that Sweta had been burned to death by her husband and other in-laws and she was trying to save herself by running out on the streets even as the kerosene fueled flames continued to devour her flesh.
The post mortem report of the victim shows that she was not being given anything to eat as a part of the torture she was being subjected to, a fact that was confirmed by the locals who had been observing the family. The report also showed that the victim girl was carrying a 6-month fetus inside her.
The neighbors, who tried to save the girl by pouring water and sand on her while she fought against the flames, informed that the couple had been married on 6 July 2006 on the premise that her husband Saurabh Mishra was a lecturer in a local inter college, when he merely ran a coaching class in the locality. Ever since the wedding, Sweta had been subjected to brutal torture by her in-laws, but she continued to study, topping her Master’s degree in Arts from Agra university.
This torture had already caused an abortion in 2007, when Saurabh had kicked her off the stairs, causing an 8 month pregnancy to abort, jeopardizing the girl’s life. The victim’s family claims that Sweta’s in-laws were demanding Rs. 5 lakhs and when their demand could not be met, they killed her.
According to the neighbors, Sweta had been going hungry for the past 3-4 days with the in-laws preventing her from eating anything. The neighbors had been trying to help her by stealthily giving her some food to sustain herself and her 6-month pregnancy.
But on Sunday, the girl’s ordeal ended into a disaster, when Saurabh and his family decided to murder her through the age-old way of setting her afire with kerosene. Aflame, Sweta managed to reach the gate of the house but could not escape the clutches of death even after rushing out on the street.
VISHAL SHARMA
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