A 13-year-old girl was set on fire for resisting rape attempt by her employer’s son in Khammam district of Telangana. The girl, who works as domestic help, has received 70 per cent burn injuries and is currently battling for her life at a hospital.
Both the 13-year-old girl and the accused belong to the Dalit community.
Although the incident happened September 18, it came to light only Monday (October 5) when the girl disclosed the incident to her parents after regaining consciousness.
According to the police, the 13-year-old girl, a native of Pallegudem village in Khammam, was working when the accused, her employer’s son, asked her to sleep with him. When she refused, he tried to rape her. As she refused to give in, the accused tore her clothes, set her on fire and fled.
“When I was in the room, he came inside and asked me to sleep with him. When I refused, he forced himself on me. I struggled a lot. He tore my clothes and later set me ablaze and ran away from the place,” the girl told her father, according to a report in The News Minute.
Khammam Police Commissioner Tafseer Iqubal told that the accused himself brought the girl to the hospital. Police are also looking into why the hospital management did not inform the police about the girl.
The hospital, in its defence, has told the police that they were under an impression that it was a case of the woman accidentally getting burnt.
The accused has been arrested and a case under Sections 376 (punishment for rape), 307 (attempt to murder), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of IPC along with Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 has been registered.