No Country For Women: On Way To Court, Rape Survivor Burnt Alive In UP’s Unnao, 5 Arrested

In yet another stark reminder of the poor condition of women safety in India, a 23-year-old was set ablaze on Thursday for filing rape complaint against five men in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district. All five accused have been arrested. Latest reports say that the son of village Pradhan was the prime accused in the case. The woman was on her way to court when she was burnt alive. Doctors say that the woman has suffered 70 per cent burn injuries and is battling for her life.

“Victim referred to a hospital in Lucknow for better treatment. We have rounded up 3 accused, search for 2 others is underway. Victim had earlier filed a rape case, one accuse in that case has also been rounded up," Unnao police official was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra took to Twitter to lash out against Uttar Pradesh government. In a tweet, Priyanka said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Home Minister Amit Shah lied that Uttar Pradesh's legal system has improved.

Unnao incident is third such case where a woman was raped or sexually assaulted and then set on fire. Last month, a veterinary doctor was gangraped and burnt in Hyderabad’s high-security area, which is just 5 minutes away from the Hyderabad airport. In yet another brutal case of suspected rape and murder, a girl was shot dead and burnt after being allegedly sexually assaulted in Kukudha village of Bihar's Buxar district.

The recently released NCRB data shows disturbing, upward trend of crime against women. As many as 3,59,849 cases of crime against women were registered across the country in 2017, continuing the upward trend for the third consecutive year, the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data released on Monday showed. In 2015, 3,29,243 cases of crimes against women were registered and 3,38,954 cases were registered in 2016. The cases categorised as crimes against women include murder, rape, dowry death, suicide abetment, acid attack, cruelty against women and kidnapping, etc.