Dalit woman gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras dies

A 19-year-old Dalit woman from Uttar Pradesh's Hathras died at Safdarjung hospital in Delhi on Tuesday morning, days after she was raped by four men here.

The family of the woman said she died around 3 am, Hathras SP Vikrant Vir said.

The woman was gang-raped on September 14 following which she was admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh. She was referred to the Delhi hospital on Monday after her condition showed no signs of improvement.

The accused had also tried to strangulate her to death as she resisted their attempt and in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it.

A spokesman of the Aligarh hospital had said that the woman's legs were completely paralysed and arms partially paralysed.

The four accused who have already been arrested will now also face charges under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC, according to the Hathras SP.

Opposition leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Mayawati have condemned the incident and demanded strict punishment for the culprits of the heinous crime.

Also Read: Hathras gang-rape incident extremely shameful, condemnable, says Mayawati

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in a tweet, said, "A Dalit girl who was victim of demoniac behaviour in Hathras has passed away at Safdarjung Hospital. For two weeks she kept struggling between life and death in hospitals."

She said incidents of rape one after another, in Hathras, Shahjahanpur and Gorakhpur have shaken the state.

"Law and order in UP has deteriorated to a great extent. There is no semblance of safety for women. The criminals are committing crimes in the open," Priyanka Gandhi said.

The killers of this girl should be punished severely, she demanded.

BSP president Mayawati also demanded stringent punishment by prosecuting the accused in a fast track court.

In a tweet in Hindi, she said, "The news of the death of Dalit victim after gangrape in Hathras, UP is very saddening. The government should provide all possible help to the victim's family and ensure fast punishment to the culprits by prosecuting them in a fast track court. This is the demand of the BSP."

On September 14, the woman had gone to the fields with her mother and had gone missing soon after. She was later found brutally injured, with her tongue having a serious cut as she bit it while the accused attempted to strangulate her, the SP had said while giving details of the incident.

The Hathras SP said initially they came to know that Sandip, 20, had tried to kill her following which he was arrested the same day.

Later in her statement to the magistrate, the woman had said that besides Sandip, Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi had raped her and when she resisted their attempts, they tried to strangulate her, leading to the cut in the tongue.

The next day the woman was admitted to J N Medical College hospital in Aligarh where she was put on a ventilator, the Hathras SP had said.