A gang-rape survivor in UP was attacked with acid for the third time in Lucknow, outside her hostel.
Highlights
- Acid thrown at the woman when she stepped out of her hostel in Lucknow
- In March, two men poured acid down her throat on a train
- The woman was allegedly gang-raped in her village in 2008
A 35-year-old gang-rape survivor in Uttar Pradesh has been attacked with acid for the fourth time in Lucknow last evening. She has been admitted to a hospital after the latest attack.
Acid was thrown at the woman sometime between 8 pm and 9 pm yesterday when she stepped out of her hostel to fill water from a hand-pump in Lucknow's Aliganj area. The attack took place despite a round-the-clock police presence for her security and an armed guard inside the hostel.
The woman is undergoing treatment at the trauma centre in Lucknow's King George's Medical University. Police said there are injuries on her face after the latest attack. "She was outside her hostel when someone came and threw acid on her. There are injuries to the right side of her face. The woman is in trauma. We will take strict action," Abhay Kumar Prasad, Additional Director General of Police, Lucknow.
Police said a formal complaint has not been registered as the family is yet to give a complaint. UP Women Welfare minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi said, "We have given them a lot of protection, there is a guard, a vehicle, have connected them with employment. The guard's room was 20 to 25 steps away from the spot where the incident took place."
The woman works at a Lucknow cafe managed by acid attack survivors.
In March this year, two men attacked her and poured acid down her throat on a train while she was returning to Lucknow from her village in Rae Bareli. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had visited her in hospital in March and given her compensation. Hours later, the two accused, named by the woman, were arrested.
Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh slammed the Yogi Adityanath government after Saturday's attack. "The law and order has completed broken down in UP. Everyday there are instances of harassment, rapes, murders, and exploitation etc," said Juhi Singh of Samajwadi Party. "In the last 100 days, the BJP government has disappointed the people. They have to think about this goondaraj," said Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Sudhindra Bhadoria.
The mother of two was allegedly gang-raped in her village in 2008. Two people were arrested and the trial is going on. Three years later, in 2011, she was attacked with acid. In 2013, she had to face a similar ordeal again after she was attacked with acid.
The woman and her family allege the acid attacks are being orchestrated by people known to the gang-rape accused.