Bihar: Dalit woman set on fire for resisting sexual assault

A gruesome case came to light in Puranbigha village, Bihar wherein a Dalit woman was doused with kerosene oil and set on fire after a failed gang-rape attempt on the night of August 20. The village falls under the jurisdiction of Giriak police station of Nalanda, Bihar.

The victim is battling for life at the Patna Medical College And Hospital (PMCH).

“She has received 80-90 recent burn injury. Our doctors are trying to save her but in such cases survival chances are very low. She is very critical,” said PMCH superintendent Rajeev Ranjan Prasad.

The rape victim was first admitted at Biharsharif district hospital following which she was referred to PMCH. She named Ranjeet Chaudhary of the Puranbigha village as the main accused, in a statement to the police. Police sources have said that the accused is absconding since the incident.

According to a report by NDTV, Before leaving for Patna, she had said, “My husband Shankar Manjhi works far away in Tamil Nadu and taking advantage of that Ranjeet was trying to harass me for quite some time. He always stalked me and tried to force himself on me. On Monday night he came with two other friends and tried to rape me. When I raised the alarm, one of them stuffed my mouth with a cloth and the other two poured kerosene and set me on fire.”

Yet, surprisingly, no FIR was lodged against the alleged accused.

The mother of the victim accused the Chaudhary family of creating a ruckus and humiliating co-villagers who belonged to lower castes.

“We are Manjhi and they are Chaudhary. Since my son-in-law was away they forced their entry into my house, tried to rape my daughter and when she resisted they tried to burn her alive.”

Also Read: Mathura: Dalit man set on fire by two men over a packet of gutkha