Fatehpur woman who alleged rape dies of burn in hospital

An 18-year-old woman from Fatehpur, who was allegedly raped and set ablaze, died on Thursday in a Kanpur hospital after battling for life for almost 120 hours, officials said. "She had suffered from organ failure including lungs and kidneys following serious injuries and we tried to resuscitate her, but she could not survive and died," Head of the department (surgery) at the hospital, Sanjay Kala said. The body has been sent to the mortuary for autopsy.

The rape victim, who had over 90 per cent burns, had been put on ventilator support since Tuesday due to continued multi-organ dysfunction. She was having problems while breathing too, Kala said.

"She was almost unconscious since Wednesday evening and took her last breath at around 6:30 am, he said.

"The patient had remained in an extremely critical condition since admission to LLR hospital," Kala said, adding that a team of several doctors tried to keep her stable, but her condition continued to deteriorate over the last two days.

An FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by the woman's family last week and an accused was arrested for rape and attempt to murder, according to Fatehpur SP Prashant Verma.

Additional Director General of Police (Allahabad zone) Sujeet Pandey had earlier said it was the woman who allegedly set herself ablaze when a 'panchayat' did not approve of her relationship with a distant relative.

When the matter of her relationship with the distant relative came to light, a panchayat was held in her village during which the woman and the man were made to take a pledge that they would live separately and not meet each other.

Upset over the panchayat's decision, the woman rushed to her house and allegedly set herself ablaze.

District Magistrate Fatehpur Sanjeev Singh had said that upon noticing smoke, villagers rescued the woman and took her to a local community health centre.

On December 5, a rape survivor from Unnao was set ablaze by five people, including two accused of raping her. They were arrested the same day. The woman later died during treatment in a Delhi hospital.