Even as the Hathras gang-rape victim passed away, there was a new case reported from Uttar Pradesh. This particular incident took place in Balrampur district's Gaisari village and saw a 22-year-old Dalit college student attacked by several men as she was returning home.
As per reports, the second-year B. Com student had gone to a college in a nearby town to pay her fees. This was in the morning on Tuesday. Hours later, she would come back home in a rickshaw in a semi-conscious state with a cannula injected in her forehand. She died soon after, on her way to the hospital.
Two of the accused have been arrested in connection with the crime. According to the police, a case had been registered by the victim's brother and investigations continue. Officials however cited post-mortem reports to deny claims that the girl's legs and back had been broken - a comment that had been made by the family.
The family which said that the girl was also working in a private firm said that all attempts to contact her had been fruitless. Family members said that the woman looked dazed and in a serious condition when she came home, and have alleged that she was lethally injected before she was raped. Her mother said that 3-4 men had forced her into their car as she was returning home.
According to the mother of the victim, she was unable to speak when she came back home and could only manage to utter the words, "I am in a lot of pain, I won't survive." "The accused broke her back and her legs and sent her back in a rickshaw. She had no strength left to even walk," the mother told reporters.
While the Hathras rape and the chaos around the victim's late night cremation had sparked nation-wise outrage, this appears to have incensed netizens further.
"In the Jungleraj of UP, the persecution of daughters continues," begins a tweet by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh took to Twitter lambasting the Yogi Adityanath led UP government, and calling for the Chief Minister's resignation. Calling it a "heartbreaking incident", Singh said that being a daughter in "Yogi Raj has become a curse".
"If you cannot protect the daughters, then leave Yogi ji," he added in Hindi.
Accusing the BJP of "misrule" former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had in a series of tweets hit out at Yogi Adityanath over the Hathras rape case.
In a strange echo of the Hathras incident, the Balrampur victim was also cremated in a hurry late on Tuesday night amidst a heavy police deployment. The last rites were performed immediately after a post-mortem was conducted on the body. However, locals have said that the funeral was conducted with the permission of the victim's family.
Two of the accused, Shahid and Sahil, have been arrested on charges of gangrape and murder on Wednesday night. The police also said that the victim was raped in the back room of a grocery store in the Gaisari village. The victim's sandals were found outside the room and the owner of the grocery store is the alleged mastermind of the crime.
Police investigations also revealed that the accused had tried to get the victim treated after raping her. They called a nearby doctor to come and see the victim but the doctor got suspicious of the situation and refused to treat her in the absence of a guardian.
Since then, officials have met with and consoled the family of the victim. They were given a letter of compensation for Rs 6,18,000.
(With inputs from IANS)
