MUMBAI: Condition of the 24-year-old college teacher who was set ablaze by her stalker on Monday continues to be critical even as people are demanding capital punishment for the accused.
"Condition of the victim still remains critical though her respiration has been restored through tracheostomy (inserting tube in airway). Her respiratory tract is severely damaged from inside due to burn injuries while her lungs have sustained damage due to toxic fumes," said Dr Darshan Revankar of the Orange City Hospital at Nagpur where the victim is being treated.
"Most of her vital parameters like heart rate, pulse, blood pressure are better than yesterday. Yet her condition remains critical. We are concerned more about possibility of infections and are trying to avoid them," the doctor said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh announced that the case would be tried in a fast track court. "The crime is very serious and the government is with the family of the victim. We are taking every possible step, like putting the case on fast track, to do justice to the victim at the earliest," Deshmukh said.
Expenses for treatment and rehabilitation of the victim would be borne by the government, procedure to give financial relief for her family has been initiated at the CM’s relief fund, he added.
On Tuesday, the accused Vikey Nagrale (27) was presented before the court on Tuesday where Judge Ratnamala Dafre sent him to police custody till Saturday (February 8). Public prosecutor Adv D S Gawde argued for the prosecution, while no lawyer came forward to defend the accused. The court then extended legal support to him through legal service authority.
Police investigating the case said that Nagrale is least repentant of his heinous act. He might have acted in rage as the victim was avoiding him or the inferiority complex might be the cause, they said. Nagrale and the victim were co-students till 12th standard. However, she was better at studies and completed her graduation and started teaching at the college while Nagrale somehow managed to complete ITI training after 12th and was unemployed.
The crime shook the state. Commercial and educational establishments in Hinganghat, where the incident took place, remained closed on Tuesday. At an all-party rally, participants demanded capital punishment for the accused, while mother of the victim demanded that the accused should be face the same punishment and set on fire.