NEW DELHI: The death of the Unnao rape victim at a hospital here after she was set ablaze led to sorrowful and angry reactions from her family members, who demanded justice by killing the accused either by imitating the Hyderabad 'encounter' or by hanging them to death.
While opposition leaders accused the Uttar Pradesh government of failing to provide security and justice to those brutalised by sexual violence in the state, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath gave the assurance that the case would be pleaded in a fast track court to provide speedy justice to the deceased woman's family.
Following a post-mortem examination, her body is being taken to her native village in Unnao's Bihar area by road in an ambulance.
Stating that the perpetrators responsible for the victim's death have no right to live, her father and brother demanded that they either be chased by police and killed in an encounter or be hanged to death.
"I want to see the accused persons being chased and shot dead," the woman's father said at their house in Unnao.
"I do not want money or any other kind of help. I want to see that the accused are chased and shot dead like the Hyderabad encounter or hanged to death," he said.
The woman's brother also reiterated the demand to kill the accused either in an encounter or by hanging, telling reporters here that his sister will get justice when all those responsible for her death "will go to the place where she has gone".
After battling for her life for almost 40 hours, the 23-year-old woman died following a cardiac arrest on Friday night at the Safdarjung Hospital here.
She had suffered more than 90 per cent burns and was airlifted to Delhi after being shifted from a local hospital to Lucknow.
She died on the day the four accused in the gang rape and murder case of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad were killed in an 'encounter' with the Telangana police, triggering a tsunami of reactions across the spectrum -- ranging from appreciation to condemnation.
The Congress party on Saturday demanded strict action against the accused in the Unnao case, saying the Uttar Pradesh government has to wake up to realise that the state is becoming the rape capital of the country.
Congress spokesperson Supriya Srimate said responsibility in the Unnao case lies at the "doorstep" of the UP government where law and order has completely collapsed.
"We demand strict action in the matter. The UP government has to wake up to realise that the state is becoming the rape capital of the country," she said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday expressed grief over the death of the Unnao rape victim at a hospital in Delhi.
"Sad. Cruelty has no limitations #Unnao," the chief minister said in a tweet.
Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal on Saturday demanded that the accused in the Unnao case be hanged within a month.
"I appeal to the UP government and the Centre to fast track this case and ensure that the perpetrators are hanged within a month," said Maliwal, who begun an indefinite hunger strike on December 3 to press her demand that rapists be hanged within six months of their conviction.
Following the death of the Unnao rape victim, the DCW chief accused the government of being "deaf" and "insensitive" and not hearing the "screams" of rape victims, adding that she was "ashamed" of the country's government.
The 23-year-old woman was set afire by five men, including two of her alleged rapists, on Thursday morning when she was going to Rae Bareli to attend a court hearing in the rape case filed by her.
After her death, a post-mortem examination of the body was conducted, hospital sources said, adding that its report would be handed over to the police.