A 23-year-old woman, who was set on fire in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur earlier this month, died in Patna on Monday. She was being treated at the city’s Apollo Burn Hospital after sustaining 95 per cent burn injuries.
The victim’s brother-in-law said the woman died around 11.40pm on Monday.
She was set on fire by Raja Rai, son of land broker Raj Kishor Rai, who poured kerosene on the woman for resisting rape attempt on December 7. Rai was arrested soon after the incident, and his accomplice Mukesh Kumar a week later.
The woman’s family has demanded an assurance of justice from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar before she is cremated. “We want the chief minister to come and assure us of justice in the case,” her brother-in-law said.
He also demanded security for family members and sought that his wife, an auxiliary nursing midwife (ANM) at Bairiya in Sitamarhi, be transferred to Muzaffarpur so that she could be with her two minor children, who were witnesses in the case.
The victim’s family members had met the state’s principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar on Monday afternoon and placed a few demands, which among others included that the victim be shifted to higher specialised centre in New Delhi.
Kumar had then said the government would constitute a medical board if it received a recommendation for referral to higher centre from the private health facility where she was being treated since December 10. The Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital (SKMCH), Muzaffarpur, where she was earlier admitted on December 8 had referred the patient to the private centre after the woman’s family members refused to take her to the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) for treatment.
The Muzaffarpur district administration had assured to bear the entire cost of treatment of the woman.
According to the FIR lodged at the Ahiyapur police station in Muzaffarpur, the woman was with her minor niece and nephew in her house while her mother was on night duty at a primary health centre when the incident happened. Rai, her neighbour, and Kumar barged in and tried to sexually assault her but failed. So, Rai along with Kumar, poured kerosene on the woman and set her on fire.
After setting the woman ablaze, the two accused had initially taken her to a private hospital in Muzaffarpur before she was brought to the Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital the next day around 2.30pm.
Rai had been stalking the woman for some time, but she rejected his advances. Out of fear, the woman had stopped attending coaching classes and did not pursue studies after completing her intermediate, her mother said.
