Girl set on fire for resisting eve-teasing in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: The police and the people does no seem to have taken any lesson from the Delhi gang-rape incident and the public outrage thereafter. Here is a classical example of how girls are being harassed in the state, how their movement restricted by families out of fear of anti-social elements and how police inaction in such cases emboldens criminal elements in the society.
A girl suffered 90 per cent burn injuries after allegedly being set on fire by a man at Loharra village in Hathras district on Tuesday. The only fault of the girl was that she objected to pestering by the man. While the victim is said to be battling for life in a hospital associated with the medical college affiliated to Aligarh Muslim University, the police have not taken any action against the accused so far. According to reports, the accused, Arjun, who is already married, was stalking and pestering the girl since long.
He also proposed her but the girl refused. And, when she informed her family members about the whole affair, they stopped her from going to college and restricted her from stepping out of the house. The father of the victim also lodged a complaint with the local police but no action was taken.
However, in retaliation, Arjun, who was angry over girl's refusal and lodging of complaint with police, sneaked into victim's house, caught her, doused her with kerosene and set her on fire. The girl raised an alarm but before anybody could come for rescue, she suffered 90% burns. While the accused fled after the incident, the girl was taken to Hathras district hospital from where she was referred to the Aligarh.
Rajendra Kumar Chauhan, police circle officer, Hathras, said that the action will be taken on the basis of the complaint lodged by the victim's family. When asked why police did not reacted earlier, he said that the police was planning to take action but the incident occurred before it could act. The officials in Lucknow, however, took the matter seriously after matter was highlight by the media and directed police to act swiftly.