A 30-year-old Dalit woman allegedly raped and set afire by a man on April 6 in Rajasthan's Barmer district died during treatment at a government hospital in Jodhpur, police said on Saturday.
Mother of two, the woman was allegedly raped and set ablaze by Shakoor Khan at her house according to her husband. The police said that she suffered around 50 per cent burns.
Opposition in the state, BJP accused the state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot-led government of attempting to suppress the matter adding that it showed the state is under a 'jungle raj'. Union Jal Shakti Minister and Jodhpur MP Gajendra Singh Shekhawat alleged that a delay in treatment is responsible for the woman's death.
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Barmer Superintendent of Police, Digant Anand said the woman died late Friday at a hospital in Jodhpur and the accused has been arrested.
Hailing from the same village as the victim, the accused was booked under IPC sections 376 (rape), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 450 (house-trespass to commit offence), and some sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, police added.
Further, the charge of murder under IPC Section 302 was also added to the FIR, they said.
The complainant, the victim's husband, said that Khan broke into their home on Thursday and raped his wife when she was alone. He then poured an acid-like chemical on her and set her on fire.
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"The delay in treatment of the victim woman shows how concerned the administration and the government are about the lives of common people," Shekhawat said in a tweet in Hindi. Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Rajendra Rathore blamed Gehlot for "poor" law and order in the state. The incident is "a blot on the government", he said.
"It shows the jungle raj prevalent in the state. Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who is also the home minister, is completely responsible for the poor law and order in the state," he added.
CP Joshi, BJP state president tweeted that the Congress government "is sitting with folded hands".
Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in a tweet said that this incident clarifies that "no one is safe" in Rajasthan. "Dalits and women are certainly not safe. Suppressing the issue, which shames humanity, for a day, makes it obvious the condemnable and insensitive attitude of the government in Rajasthan. Strictest action should be taken against the culprits."
(With PTI inputs)
