Unnao: Just days after the gruesome gang-rape and murder of a veterinarian in Hyderabad, a rape survivor from Uttar Pradesh's Unnao was set ablaze on Thursday allegedly by the man accused of raping her, along with four others. According to reports, all five men were later taken into custody. The victim was rape in December last year and today the incident took place while she was on her way to court in Raebareli for the hearing in the rape case. The accused tried to burn the woman by dousing her with kerosene at a distance of around 1 kilometre away from her home on a deserted road.

When the victim reached the Gaura turn, near her home, Harishankar Trivedi, Ram Kishore Trivedi, Umesh Bajpai, Shivam Trivedi and Shubham Trivedi attacked her and set her afire. Aflame, she ran for a while before eyewitnesses saw her and informed police, which sent her to the Community Health Centre from where she was sent to the district hospital before being referred to Lucknow, police said.

The victim has received 90 per cent burns and is currently battling for life. The Uttar Pradesh government was preparing to fly her to New Delhi for treatment at Safdarjung Hospital. Doctors attending on her at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Hospital in Lucknow said she is in a "very serious" condition.

"The condition of the girl who was set on fire and bought here at 10 am is very serious. She has 90 per cent burn injuries and we are taking the utmost care," Medical Superintendent Dr Ashutosh Dubey told PTI. Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said she will be taken to Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital.

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In a tweet, the Uttar Pradesh police said the victim had lodged an FIR alleging that she had been raped between January 19 and December 12, 2018 by one of the accused on the pretext that he would marry her. The accused was arrested and got out on bail on November 25, police informed.

Reacting to the incident, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath directed officials to provide medical facilities to the woman. He also asked the district administration and police officials to take stern action against the accused.

Taking a serious note of the shocking incident,  Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi teared into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), especially Amit Shah and Adityanath for lying about the law and order situation in the state. "Yesterday the home minister of the country and Uttar Pradesh chief minister lied that law and order in Uttar Pradesh has become good. Seeing such incidents every day leads to anger, she said.

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Even the National Commission for Women (NCW) has stepped in with its chairperson Rekha Sharma writing to state Director General of Police O P Singh. She sought an action taken report from the Uttar Pradesh police as well as a detailed report on the reported heinous crimes committed against women and bail granted in such cases in the last three years.

Unnao has been in the spotlight for rape and other crimes against women after a young woman alleged that she had been raped in 2017, when she was 17 years old. The main accused in the case is former BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar.

(With inputs from PTI)