No arrest has been made so far for the acid attack on an alleged gang-rape victim in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district.
On Sunday, a video of the survivor emerged where she could be heard saying that four men stormed into her house at Kaserva village in Shahpur area in the early hours of December 4 and asked her to withdraw the rape charges against them. When she refused, they poured acid on her, causing burns on her face and hand. She said the local police responded to her distress call, but didn’t take action against the accused. She alleged that the police didn’t take note of her complaint of gang rape earlier too and she had to approach the court.
On Saturday, the police registered an FIR against the four accused, Arif, Shahnawaz, Sharif, and Abid, residents of Kaserva and Budhana village, after the survivor approached the Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarnagar, Abhishek Yadav.
Police officials alleged that she had lodged at least half-a-dozen FIRs in the past, alleging molestation, rape, illegal confinement and causing hurt against several persons in the village. “Two of them have been expunged and in the others, the final report is being prepared,” said a senior official on condition of anonymity. “This time, she approached the court directly. Though the alleged incident [gang rape] took place three months back, the court is yet to take cognisance of her complaint,” he added.
Woman discharged
Mr. Yadav said the woman had every right to make a fresh complaint and the police would not judge the alleged acid attack with her past record. “However, a thorough investigation is being done as prima facie the location of the accused does not match with the location of her house at the time of the incident. We hope to come out with the facts soon.”
He said the burns were not serious. “She was taken to Meerut after the incident, and was discharged within a few hours,” he added.
