Author: Tushar Srivastava
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: February 6, 2003
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=16171
A fourteen-year-old girl here was
sexually harassed by three men who poured kerosene oil on her and set her
afire when she protested. Jyoti sustained 50 pc burn injuries and is now
admitted in Muzaffarnagar District Hospital.
The accused - Bhura, 20, Sayeed,
30 and Amana, 15 - allegedly barged into her home on Friday when she was
alone. Jyoti was rushed to the nearby health centre by her neighbours.
''We were out at the time,'' says her father Jagbir Singh. The family later
shifted her to the district hospital in Muzaffarnagar.
The accused have been arrested and
remanded to 14 days' custody. A case of attempt to murder and molestation
was registered at the Budhana police station on a complaint by Jyoti's
grandfather Asha Ram. ''We have arrested the accused on the basis of the
complaint by the victim's family and the victim's statement,'' said Muzaffarnagar
additional SSP Ram Bharose.
The three, police said, are local
residents of Budhana district. Jagbir alleges that they have been involved
in similar incidents of misbehaviour earlier too. ''They will be soon out
on bail. Even if police release them, I won't,'' he says.
Jyoti's brother-in-law Satish Kumar
says: ''Look at the conditions here. There's not a single doctor. We might
shift her to Delhi.''
-(Victim's name has been changed
to protect her identity)
