- Saturday, March 01, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
In a horrific incident in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, a six-month-old baby born to a teenage gang-rape survivor was left battling for its life after a mob comprising the accused set the family’s home on fire after coming out on bail, police sources said.
Four persons were arrested, including the girl’s uncle and grandfather.
The incident took place in a village in Unnao in UP, which is ruled by prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has Yogi Adityanath, who is often seen as an administrator with an iron fist, as its chief minister.
Police sources added that two of the five accused of gang-raping the girl, who got out on bail, went to the victim’s house along with her uncle on Monday (17) and torched it, The Independent reported.
At the time, the girl’s six-month-old son and her infant sister were inside the house and they suffered severe burn injuries. The two children were initially treated at a district hospital in Kanpur city, located about 20 kilometres from Unnao.
But they were later referred to a hospital in state capital Lucknow, located about 90 kilometres away, on Wednesday (19) night after their condition deteriorated.
The girl’s child, which was born prematurely after the rape, suffered burn injuries on its stomach, face and limbs, the report added.
“The doctors have asked us to arrange blood for the baby as his condition deteriorated overnight in the ICU,” the survivor’s father was quoted as saying by The Independent.
“We need to arrange Rs 5,000 (£48.9) to save the child but our house has been burnt down and we do not have a single penny to arrange blood. The situation is very grim,” he said.
“I don’t know how I will save them when they are battling for their life,” he said.
The father said he was also attacked by one of the rape accused with an axe last week and he has not fully recovered from his injuries. He added that his daughter also suffered injuries from the attack.
The girl’s mother filed a police complaint on Monday night in a first-information report after the house was set on fire. It said that seven men were involved in the act.
The girl’s father also alleged that the family had been threatened to withdraw the case of face consequences.
The rape survivor’s father alleged that the family had been threatened to withdraw the case or face consequences.
The Independent report cited the police officials saying that they were probing the role played by the rape survivor’s uncle in burning down the house.
On Thursday (20), the police arrested a total of four accused out of the seven, including the rape survivor’s uncle and grandfather, the report added.
