11 days after being set ablaze, Sadhvi succumbs to injuries
Her kin had lodged an FIR of attempt to murder and molestation against five people but the Shahjahanpur police so far failed to arrest anyone.
Sadhvi Koyal Giri, 38, who was allegedly set ablaze by a local businessman and his associates in Shahjahpur on November 23, succumbed to her injuries at a hospital in Bareilly on Tuesday afternoon.
Her kin had lodged an FIR of attempt to murder and molestation against five people but the Shahjahanpur police so far failed to arrest anyone.
Sadhvi Koyal Giri, earlier known as Seema Verma, had taken ‘diksha’ (initiation) from Mahant Divya Giri of Mankameshwar Math of Lucknow in January this year. She also contested assembly elections from Nigohi, Shahjahanpur, as a Peace Party candidate in 2012 and remained on sixth position.
Talking over phone, Sadhvi’s nephew Amit Rajput confirmed that she breathed her last around 12.20 pm on Tuesday. She had suffered over 80% burn injuries after four people allegedly set her ablaze over a property dispute, outside her house in Bahadurganj village under Tilhar police station of Shahjahanpur, he said.
“Her condition worsened despite continuous efforts by doctors to save her and finally she succumbed to injuries,” he added.
Rajput said the police were trying shield the accused since the beginning by stating that she (sadhvi) immolated herself in her house and did not initiate any action the culprits.
Giri’s mother Ramlalli had earlier lodged an FIR against Pankaj Gupta, Sushil Babu Gupta, Anurag Gupta, Anil Gupta and their aide Daulat Giri at Tilhar police station on November 24.
In the FIR, she mentioned that the accused were troubling the victim for the past two months with the intent to grab a piece of land that she received as gift. The accused are businessmen of Shahjahanpur and own petrol pumps and rice mills.
The accused had even lodged a case of fraud against the victim to harass her while their aide Daulat Giri often called her on phone and threatened her, alleged Ramlalli. She said the accused surrounded the victim near her house around 8 pm when she was returning from Lucknow after attending ‘Gomti Arti’ on November 23.
The complainant alleged that they molested her and tore her clothes when she tried to escape from them. The accused also chased the victim and set her ablaze, she alleged.