Woman set ablaze in order to stop her from filing FIR against molestation

A 26-year-old woman was allegedly set ablaze by two men in order to prevent her from lodging an FIR against them regarding her molestation in this district of Uttar Pradesh, police said Monday.

The victim was admitted to the district hospital with 40-45 per cent burn injuries, Inspector General of Police (IG), Zone, Sujit Pandey said.

On November 29, the woman, who is married, was allegedly molested by two brothers -- Ramu (32) and Rajesh (28) -- the police said.

On December 1, the brothers allegedly caught hold of her, sprinkled kerosene on her body and set her ablaze in order to prevent her from lodging an FIR against them.

The family members of the victim alleged that for two days, her complaint was not accepted by the police at the outpost concerned and also at the Tambore police station.

Taking note of the incident, three policemen, including Tambore Station House Officer (SHO) Om Prakash Saroj and outpost in-charge Manoj Kumar, were suspended, Superintendent of Police (SP) Prabhakar Chowdhury said.

Both the brothers were arrested, IG Pandey said.