LUCKNOW: The family of the 30-year-old woman who died of 90 per cent burns after battling for 44 hours at Safdurjung Hospital in New Delhi on late Friday night, performed her last rites by burying her body besides the graves of her grandparents at their ancestral farm in village Hindu Khera, Unnao on Sunday.
The victim, in the wee hours of Thursday, was set ablaze by the men who were accused of raping her a year ago in December 2018. However, the kin of the victim had refused to carry out her last rites till CM Yogi Adityanath did not visit them to assure them on their demands. It was only after much persuasion of the senior-most government officials of the division and the arrival of two ministers Swami Prasad Maurya and Kamal Rani Varun, that the family agreed to perform the last rites.
It was the third visit paid by the two ministers to the victim’s village in 24 hours on Sunday. They reached out to her relatives ahead of her last rites following the directives of the CM who was away in Jhansi.
It took the officials, led by Lucknow Divisional Commissioner Mukesh Meshram, around two hours to assuage the family and bringing it along to cremate the body. As per the divisional Commissioner, the family agreed for burial only after securing a promise of job to one of the members, licence for a weapon and an opportunity to meet the CM personally.
Meanwhile, both the ministers remained at the burial site amid tight security before paying tribute to the departed soul at her house.
Having promised to ensure speedy justice by taking the case to fast track court, the Uttar Pradesh government had already paid financial compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the family on Saturday late evening. It also promised a pucca (brick) house to the victim’s family. The family has also been granted police protection against any similar attacks. The state has also promised to fulfil other demands made by the family.
The victim's father had earlier demanded that the five men responsible for his daughter's death should be "chased and gunned down" like the Hyderabad case, where four people accused of raping and murdering a 26-year-old veterinarian were shot by Telangana police.
The post mortem report of the Unnao rape-murder victim indicated that she died of extensive burn injuries. The victim suffered 90 per cent burns when five men dragged her outside the village, poured petrol on her and burnt her alive.
Earlier, the body of the victim reached her native village in Unnao around midnight on Saturday. The body was taken to Unnao from Safdurjung Hospital in New Delhi by an ambulance through Lucknow-Agara Expressway with a police escort.