2 MEN 'REPEATEDLY' HARASS NEWLY-MARRIED WOMAN; SET HER ABLAZE FOR LODGING FIR

A 20-year-old newly-wed woman was set on fire in a village in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh for allegedly resisting a molestation bid by two brothers and submitting a police complaint against them. According to police, the woman suffered 45% burns in the incident and was in a critical state.

According to report in Hindustan Times, the woman had tried to a file complaint thrice but the policemen did not pay heed and sent her away every time. Three cops of the Sitapur’s Tambaur police station involved in the incident were suspended.

The accused brothers, Raju and Rajesh, were arrested, after an FIR of molestation and attempt to murder was registered against them.

According to the report, the incident occurred on Saturday afternoon, when the woman had wandered off to the sugarcane fields to relieve herself. The brothers ambushed her when she was returning home and started to coerce her to take back her complaint against them.

When the woman resisted the two men, they poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze. They fled from the spot when villagers turned up to rescue her.

"The victim’s face and the upper part of her body are burnt. On November 29, they tried to molest her according to her statement. She twice tried to file police complaint but was refused,” senior police officer of Lucknow zone, Sujeet Pandey, who is investigating the case, told a news organisation.

The officer has also promised swift action against cops involved in this case for "negligence of duty."