A police station (SHO) officer was suspended Tuesday in Bihar’s Vaishali district for negligence after a 20-year-old woman, who was allegedly set on fire by three men, succumbed to her injuries.
The defendants, identified as Satish Kumar, Vijay Kumar and Chandan Kumar, allegedly set the woman on fire in Rasalpur-Habib village under the Chandpur police post when she resisted his sexual assault on October 30. Vijay and Satish are father and son, while Chandan is the latter’s cousin.
Read also | Rape Whistleblower Dies by Suicide in UP’s Bulandshahar District
The woman, who suffered burns in 75%, was rushed to a private hospital from where she was referred to Patna Medical College and Hospital. Protests erupted in the area when the woman died Monday night.
The family of the deceased complained that SHO Vishnudeo Dubey did not take immediate action on the woman’s complaint. During the investigation, Vaishali SP Maneesh learned that the Town Police Station had recorded the woman’s statement at the private hospital on 30 October before referring the case to the Chandpur Police Post. However, SHO Dubey filed an FIR against the three named defendants only on November 2.
In her complaint, the woman alleged that one of the defendants, Satish, regularly harassed her. “Satish threatened to kill me if I didn’t go with him,” she had said.
All of the defendants are on the run and the SP told HT there were raids to catch them.
Meanwhile, two more cases of sexual assault and murder have been reported in the past 24 hours. Reports from the Amwan village of Motihari say that the Pipra police recovered body parts from a six-year-old boy after the arrest of the accused. Chakia SDPO Sanjay Kumar said the defendant lured the minor with cookies and took him to the Lakhna River. When he tried to attack her, the girl raised the alarm. In a panic, the defendant strangled her and cut up the body.
In Rohtas, an 8-year-old boy was killed after a rape in the village of Gangauli, below the area of the Dalmianagar police station. The locals caught the accused, identified as Balram Singh, and beat him before turning him over to the police.
In Nawada, a Kailash Choudhary had his throat slit for allegedly trying to rape a woman in the area of the Kadirganj police station. Police said the defendant was captured by the husband of the woman who slit his throat. The couple then surrendered at the police station.
.
