I don't want to die, Unnao girl's last words

Congress General Secreatry Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visits Sindupur village to meet the victim's family. Pic/PTI

New Delhi: "Save me, I don't want to die, I want to see them hang to death". These are the last words of the 23-year-old rape victim from Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district to her family members and doctors before she died on Friday late night in a Delhi hospital.

She was declared dead at 11.40 pm after she failed to survive a cardiac arrest at Safdarjung Hospital. "She was in pain. She had been pleading to be saved," said a senior doctor from the hospital.

The victim was air-lifted to Delhi from Lucknow and admitted to the hospital after she was set on fire allegedly by five persons, including rapists. She had suffered 90 per cent burns.

Unnao rape case victim's body being taken away after the post-mortem at Safdarjung hospital, in New Delhi. Pic/PTI

After learning of the death of the victim, Delhi Commission for Women chief, Swati Maliwal said, "I appeal to the central and Uttar Pradesh governments that the rapists in this case should be hanged within a month."

The victim was attacked outside the Sindupur village in Unnao when she was on her way to a court in Rae Bareli to attend a hearing in the rape case. She was abducted by five men Harishankar Trivedi, Ram Kishore Trivedi, Umesh Bajpai, Shivam and Shubham Trivedi. She was beaten, stabbed, burnt and was left to die.

However, she stood up and walked up to a kilometre to a person who was working outside a house and sought help. She made a call to the police herself. She was rushed to a nearby hospital from where she was referred to the civil hospital in Lucknow where she was admitted in a plastic surgery burn unit. The victim's statement was recorded here.

Father demands encounter
Talking to reporters, the deceased's father said, "I have only one demand... my daughter should get justice." He demanded a Hyderabad-like "encounter", or death penalty for the accused. He said that after his daughter's post-mortem was conducted at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi on Saturday. Following the autopsy, the body will be brought to Unnao.

Priyanka meets family
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra cancelled all her scheduled events in Lucknow and reached the home of the Unnao rape victim on Saturday afternoon, where she met the family members of the deceased. During the meeting with the victim's family members, she assured them of all possible help and said that she was with them in their hour of grief.

Earlier, Priyanka Gandhi attacked the Yogi Adityanath government over the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh after the death of the victim. She tweeted: "It is a failure of all of us that we could not give her justice. Socially, we are all guilty, but it also shows the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh."

Priyanka questioned why atrocities on women were rampant in the state. "Keeping in mind the previous incident of Unnao, why did the government not give immediate protection to the victim? What action was taken against the officer who refused to register her FIR? Every day there are cases of atrocities against the women in UP," Priyanka tweeted.

2012 rape convict writes to President

The 2012 gang rape case convict Vinay Sharma has written to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking withdrawal of his mercy petition. Sharma, through his counsel AP
Singh, wrote to the President on Saturday requesting him that he be allowed to withdraw the mercy petition, claiming that the mercy plea sent to the President by the Ministry of Home Affairs was not signed by him. Singh alleged there was a conspiracy as he has not yet filed a curative petition.

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