Victim’s mother blames it on police, court

Aneesha Sareen

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 5

"Her Class XII examinations were approaching and she kept telling me that she wanted to be a police officer. She was very good at studies. We were trying hard to arrange resources so that she could fulfil her dreams. All that is left now is despair. Doctors say there are very little chances of her survival. Our lives are ruined,"

said the mother of the minor girl who was set ablaze at Focal Point, Ludhiana, yesterday.

The girl is battling for life with 90 per cent burns. She was set afire by three men after pouring kerosene on her for complaining against them. She is admitted to the Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh.

"The police and the court are directly responsible for her condition. The police failed to provide her protection and the court granted bail to the accused after which they started threatening her. She was very scared for the past few days," said her mother.

"The police never arrested one of the four accused who kidnapped and tried to rape her on October 29. Those arrested also got bail. The school authorities refused to admit her after the incident. They told us she could come to school after she got police protection. They feared she might be attacked on the school premises, which would bring a bad name to them. We made representation to the higher-ups, but nobody listened to us. The treatment to us could have been different had we belonged to some affluent class," she said.