Unnao rape victim laid to rest besides grandparents in ancestral village

Lucknow: The family of the 23-year-old woman who died on late Friday night at around 11:40 pm after battling for 40 hours at Safdurganj Hospital in New Delhi, performed her last rites by burying her body besides the graves of her grandparents at their ancestral farm in village Hindu Khera, Unnao on Sunday.

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The family was adamant on not cremating the body that reached the Unnao village on Saturday evening until the chief minister promises action. The woman passed away on Friday night after suffering from 90 per cent burns. She was set on fire by five men on Thursday while she was on her way to Raebareli for a hearing of the rape case she had filed against the same men. It was only after much persuasion of the senior-most government officials of the division and the arrival of two ministers Swami Prasad Maurya and Kamal Rani Varun, that the family agreed to perform the last rites.

It was the third visit paid by the two ministers to the victim’s village in 24 hours on Sunday. They reached out to her relatives ahead of her last rites following the directives of the CM who was away in Jhansi.

It took the officials, led by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Mukesh Meshram, around two hours to assuage the family and bringing it along to cremate the body. As per the divisional Commissioner, the family agreed for burial only after securing a promise of job to one of the members, licence for a weapon and an opportunity to meet the CM personally.

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Meanwhile, both the ministers remained at the burial site amid tight security before paying tribute to the departed soul at her house.

Having promised to ensure speedy justice by taking the case to fast track court, the Uttar Pradesh government had already paid financial compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the family on Saturday late evening. It also promised a pucca (brick) house to the victim’s family. The family has also been granted police protection against any similar attacks. The state has also promised to fulfil other demands made by the family.

The victim's father had earlier demanded that the five men responsible for his daughter's death should be "chased and gunned down" like the Hyderabad case, where four people accused of raping and murdering a 26-year-old veterinarian were shot by Telangana police.

The post mortem report of the Unnao rape-murder victim indicated that she died of extensive burn injuries. The victim suffered 90 per cent burns when five men dragged her outside the village, poured petrol on her and burnt her alive. She was rushed to a local hospital in a critical condition from where she was shuttled to Lucknow and later Delhi.

The doctor at Safdarjung said, "According to the postmortem report the victim died of extensive burn injuries."

"There was no indication of the presence of any foreign body, poisoning or suffocation on the body of the woman during postmortem conducted this morning," the doctor said.

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The body of the victim reached her ancestral village in Unnao around midnighton Saturday. The body was taken to Unnao from Safdurganj Hospital in New Delhi by an ambulance through Lucknow-Agra Expressway with a police escort.