A girl was allegedly raped before being set on fire by her attacker in Noida.
Highlights
- 15-year-old in ICU after she was allegedly raped, set on fire near Delhi
- Teen hospitalised with 95% burns, cops questioning a man from her village
- Teen had dropped out of school last year after a man started stalking her
A 15-year-old is in a critical condition in the ICU after she was raped and set on fire at her home near Delhi allegedly by a man who had stalked her for over a year.
Screaming in agony, the girl repeatedly named her stalker, a 20-year-old from the same village, who has been arrested.
The man always claimed he was 'in love', a police officer said. On Sunday night, he allegedly broke into the girl's home.
At around 2.30 am that night, the girl's parents heard her screaming from the terrace of their home in Noida. When they ran up, they found her on fire.
She was taken to hospital with 95 per cent burns, only her face somewhat less affected.
"Witnesses have told us that the boy entered her house forcibly and after raping her he burnt her. We are waiting for a medical report...the burnt percentage is high," a police officer said.
The teenager, a Class 10 student, dropped out of school last year allegedly after the man started stalking her.
Her parents say the man continued to harass her until she stopped going out.
"The man whose name the girl was taking in her charred state used to harass her. The family had called the police about it even earlier," said Vemul Ansare, the girl's uncle.
The girl is in Delhi's Safdarjung hospital, so severely burnt that doctors say they are finding it difficult to examine or treat her. "She is on a high dose of antibiotics and is being administered fluids. We are trying to control the spread of infection in her blood which can lead to multi-organ failure," a doctor was quoted in reports as saying.
The family has lived in the village in the Gautam Buddha Nagar area for nearly 17 years.