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Acid attack victim’s kin protest, demand CBI probe
Preeti Rathi, a 23-year-old acid attack victim who succumbed to her injuries after a month-long fight in Mumbai, was cremated at her northwest Delhi village on Monday evening.
Preeti Rathi, a 23-year-old acid attack victim who succumbed to her injuries after a month-long fight in Mumbai, was cremated at her northwest Delhi village on Monday evening.
Rathi, a resident of Narela, was cremated around 5pm after a day-long protest by her family and incensed residents of the area who demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into her murder.
"We cremated her at a crematorium near our house after a senior government official assured us that our demands will be fulfilled," said her father Amar Singh Rathi.
"In a letter to the government, I had put up three demands. First, we want a CBI probe into my daughter's murder. Secondly, I want a government job for one of my family members. Third, state of honours for my daughter," he added.
After Preeti's body's arrived from Mumbai around 7:45 am on Monday morning, incensed family members refused to carry out her last rites until a CBI probe was ordered into the incident.
With her body in a coffin, they marched down the GT Karnal Road from their home in Narela and were intercepted by the police as they were blocking traffic on the highway.
Their protest continued well till her cremation at 5pm which followed an assurance by the area's SDM that their demands will be met.
"Though my third demand has been met and I have been assured that a CBI probe too will be ordered, the government is still silent on the last demand," Preeti's father said.
Unidentified assailants had thrown acid on Preeti as she had alighted from the New Delhi-Mumbai Garib Rath Express in Mumbai on the morning of May 2. She had reached Mumbai to report for a job as a nurse at a defence hospital.
She died of her injuries in a private hospital in Mumbai on Sunday, a month after the horrific incident. Her family had called on Maharashtra home minister RR Patil on Sunday to demand justice.
Having extended a compensation of R2 lakh to her family, Patil had assured them that the case will be handed over to the CBI soon.
