India: Man in Bihar throws baby into fire after harassing mother
Woman under pressure to withdraw case and settle for compensation
Patna: A man in Bihar threw a three-month-old baby girl into the fire after her mother protested his sexual advances. The baby with severe burn injuries on her leg, thigh and arms has been admitted to a local government hospital.
Police said the woman, a resident of Muzaffarpur district, was sitting beside a bonfire outside her house over the weekend when a man began sexually harassing her. Her husband was away at that time.
Angry at her protests, the accused snatched the breast-feeding baby from her arms and threw her into the fire, leaving her severely wounded. He also assaulted the woman before fleeing the scene.
“We have registered the case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and raids are on to nab the absconding accused. He will be caught soon,” local deputy superintendent of police Baidyanath Singh told the media on Monday.
According to the victim, the local police refused to register the case when she reached the police station with the complaint and instead advised her to settle the issue at personal level.
“Finally, we reached the local Senior Superintendent of Police and narrated our ordeal before the official who ordered the local police to immediately register the case and arrest the accused,” the victim told the media. It was then that the case was registered on Sunday.
The victim’s family is now facing pressure from the accused to withdraw the case and settle the issue after taking some monetary compensation. “When we reached the local police to get a copy of the First Information Report (FIR), a local leader came to us and asked us to withdraw the case in lieu of money. We are terrified,” the victim’s husband told the media.
The family has fled the village in view of the threats. They also have reported the matter to the local police as well as the senior police officials.
The incident comes amid a series of punishments awarded by the local courts in rape cases in the past fortnight in Bihar. In a latest case, a local court in Rohtas district awarded life imprisonment to a man for raping a six-year-old girl two years ago.