The last rites of the teenage girl, who was set ablaze by her stalkers for refusing to talk to them, were performed amid tight security in Meerut’s Sardhana on Wednesday.
The girl, a 14-year-old student of Class 10, succumbed to her burns at the Safdarjung hospital in New Delhi. Her body was brought home in the evening of 4 September.
Columns of police and RAF were present as people for all walks of life, including social activists, watched the family perform the last rites.
“I am shocked and speechless,” said Atul Sharma, president of Sankalp Organisation. He said that the society has to come out of its slumber.
On 17 August, a group of men allegedly set the girl on fire after barging into her home and dousing her with kerosene. The girl was being stalked by the men for quite some time and had refused to speak to one of the accused on mobile phone.
The victim was rushed to a private hospital with over 60 per cent burn injuries from where she was referred to Safdarjung hospital.
Police arrested five of the six accused in the case but angry locals have been protesting against the slow pace of investigation.
Following the death of the girl, SP (Rural) Rajesh Kumar said that murder charges under the IPC will be slapped against the accused.
The incident had invited sharp reactions from various sections of the society. Traders, students, NGOs, and Samajwadi Party leaders came out on the roads demanding stern action against the accused and compensation for the family of the girl.
BJP MLA from Sardhana, Sangeet Som, was criticised for showing apathy in the case. Som had later visited the girl during treatment in Delhi and assured every possible help to the family.