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The 23-year-old Unnao rape victim who was airlifted to Delhi and admitted to Safdarjung Hospital with 90 percent burns after five men set her on fire, succumbed to the injuries inflicted on her on Friday, 6 December.
After battling for life for almost 40 hours, the woman died following a cardiac arrest at 11:40 pm on Friday night, hospital sources told PTI.
Leaders from across the political spectrum have condemned the incident and urged the Uttar Pradesh government to take stringent action against the perpetrators.
Case Will be Taken to a Fast-Track Court: UP CM Adityanath
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday termed the incident “extremely sad” and conveyed his condolences to the aggrieved family.
“All the accused persons have been arrested. The case will be taken to a fast-track court, and the accused will be punished,” Adityanath issued a statement, according to PTI.
CM Adityanath announced an ex gratia of Rs 25 lakh for the family of the Unnao rape victim. Other facilities to be extended to the family will be looked at the local level, Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi told PTI.
UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who was sent to Unnao to meet the bereaved family, said the family will also be given a government house.
“This is an extremely unfortunate incident, I can't even imagine what the family of the victim is going through,” Maurya told reporters assuring that stringent action will be taken against the culprits at the earliest, according to ANI.
‘What Is the UP Govt Doing to Curb Atrocities Against Women?’
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for its inaction and asked why the victim was not given immediate protection, keeping in mind the previous incident in Unnao.
“What is the government doing to stop the atrocities on women daily in Uttar Pradesh?” she questioned.
Further, she expressed her condolences to the victim’s kin and slammed the law and order situation in UP.
“As a society we are all guilty, but it also shows the hollowness of the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh,” she said.
Akhilesh Sits on Dharna, Says up Govt Should Be Removed, Has Failed to Protect Women
Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav sat on a dharna outside the Vidhan Bhavan in Lucknow on Saturday, accusing the Yogi Adityanath government of failing the Unnao gangrape victim who was set on fire and died at a hospital in Delhi.
Terming the day a "Black Day", he demanded that the BJP government in the state be removed.
“A government which is giving sorrow and creating difficulties, our demand is that this government should be removed. The party will agitate for people, and in this regard the Samajwadi Party will hold ‘shok sabha’ (condolence meetings) in all district headquarters. It will be in memory of all the daughters, who had lost their lives.”Akhilesh Yadav, SP Chief
Mayawati Urges SC to Take Cognizance of Rising Incidents of Crime Against Women
BSP chief Mayawati urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognizance of the growing incidents of crime against women and direct the Centre to take prompt steps for effectively checking them.
Hours after the death of Unnao rape victim, Mayawati met Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel and submitted a memorandum, urging her to apprise the state government about people's concern over law and order situation, and an alarming rise in the incidents of violence against women.
She asked the governor to intervene in the matter as per her constitutional obligations.
“If the Supreme Court take note of the growing cases of crime against women on its own and direct the Centre to take action, I think then it (Centre) would come into action mode.”Mayawati, BSP Chief
Twitter Bursts Out in Rage
“Every rapist & killer is a coward. We the women of India won’t be deterred,” All India Mahila Congress President Sushmita Dev said, adding that the only way to honour her is to “fight back with courage.”
Former Chief Minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah said, “The victim's death has exposed the double standards of highly stratified Indian patriarchal society” and urged a probe free of any “influence and prejudice.”
‘Govt Insensitive to Rape Survivors’
Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) Chief Swati Maliwal on Saturday, accused the government of being “deaf” and “insensitive” to the “screams of rape victims.”
Maliwal, who is on an indefinite strike to press her demand that rapists be hanged within six months of their conviction, said she is “ashamed” of her country's government, PTI reported.
BSP supremo Mayawati asked the UP government to ensure “proper justice” to the family of the victim’s kin.
"UP government should take special initiative soon to provide proper justice to the victim's family. This is the demand of justice and people," she said.
In another tweet, she added, "To prevent such traumatic incidents all over the country, including in UP, state governments should create fear of law among people. In view of the incidents, the Centre should also make a law to ensure strict punishment by hanging to death within a stipulated time-frame."
Five men, including two who had allegedly raped her, set her on fire on 5 December, while she was on her way to Raebareli with her parents to attend a trial in the very same rape case.
The Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a special investigation team to probe the incident.
The accused – Harishankar Trivedi, Ram Kishore Trivedi, Umesh Bajpai, Shivam Trivedi and Shubham Trivedi – have been arrested by the police.
(With inputs from PTI & ANI.)
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