Distraught by persistent stalking by three youths of her village, a class IX Dalit girl student attempted self-immolating at her house in Gorakhpur on Wednesday.
The victim is pursuing her studies from a school in Mumbai where her uncle works with a company. She visited her native house in Badhalganj locality of Gorakhpur ten days back to meet her parents and relatives during the winter vacation.
Since her arrival at the village, three youths identified as Rahul Yadav, Amit Sahni and Arjun Sahni started stalking her. Fed up with the innuendos, the girl complained to her parents two days back but was advised to ignore the advances.
On Wednesday afternoon, the miscreants stopped her on the way and caught her by her hand. She somehow wriggled free, reached her home and narrated the ordeal to her parents. The latter went to the houses of the accused to complain to their parents.
However, the accused’ family members confronted the girl’s family and engaged in a brawl injuring several of them. Soon the issue became public and the victim felt insulted. The distraught girl doused herself with kerosene and set herself afire. Her family members somehow put out the flames and rushed her to Gorakhpur Medical College.
The police said the girl suffered 50 per cent burns and she was under constant watch of the doctors. The police arrested Rahul and Arjun while efforts were on to nab Amit. A case of eve teasing and assault was registered against the accused and 7/8 of POCSO Act was also slapped on them besides Section 3(1) of SC/ST Act.