Mother-Daughter duo burnt alive during demolition drive in Kanpur

In a shocking incident, a 45-year-old woman and her 20-year-old daughter died in a fire during an anti-encroachment drive in a village in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur Dehat district.

While the police said the two women set themselves on fire, their family claimed that it was the policemen who set fire to their shack while the women were inside, resulting in the deaths. The incident took place late on Monday evening at Madauli village in Rura district, where the police, district administration and officials had gone to remove encroachments from the 'gram samaj' or government land, a police official said. Villagers said the officials came with a bulldozer and were not informed beforehand.

"They started the fire while people were still inside. We were just able to escape. They broke our temple. No one did anything, not even the district magistrate. Everyone ran away, no one could save my mother," said Shivam Dixit. But the police said that Pramila Dixit and her daughter Neha set themselves on fire. Rura Station House Officer (SHO) Dinesh Gautam and Pramila's husband Gendan Lal also suffered burn injuries while trying to rescue the women, a police officer said.

Meanwhile, Superintendent of Police (SP) BBGTS Murthy said, "The woman and her daughter locked themselves inside the cottage and set it on fire, resulting in their deaths. We will investigate and if there is any wrongdoing, we will spare no effort." the culprit." He said, "Whenever there is a trespassing proceeding, a video is taken. We have requested the video, and we will investigate."

Meanwhile, there is tension in the village and incidents of stone pelting on the police have also been reported. The villagers are demanding an FIR against Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Maitha) Gjaneshwar Prasad, Lekhpal Singh and others for the alleged murder.

Additional Director General of Police (Kanpur Zone) Alok Singh along with Divisional Commissioner Raj Shekhar visited the village to pacify the mob and ensure action against the culprits. The Samajwadi Party accused the "insensitive" administration of the "murders".

The Samajwadi Party tweeted, "Under Yogi (Adityanath) rule, Brahmin families are being targeted, and such incidents happen selectively. Like Dalits and backwards, Brahmins are also being targeted for atrocities by Yogi rule."