The letter Latika Bansal wrote to Akhilesh Yadav.

Latika Bansal (right) with her sister Tanya.

MEERUT: Two months ago Latika Bansal, a 15-year-old girl from Bulandshahr, saw something that she will never forget. On June 14, Latika’s mother Anu Bansal was burned alive in front of her and her 11-year-old sister Tanya. Anu Bansal was killed, the teen alleges, by her in-laws because she “failed to give them a son”.As her mother was burning, Latika called the police helpline — 100 — but nobody responded to her calls. She called an ambulance too, but it never arrived. Finally, the girl called her uncle, who reached in ten minutes and took the woman to hospital. Latika’s mother, who had suffered 95 per cent burns, could not survive. Meanwhile, the police complaint claimed that the death was a case of suicide. Two months after her mother’s death, a desperate Latika wrote a letter to chief minister Akhilesh Yadav in her blood in the hope that it would prompt him to act.“I can never forget what I saw. My mother was burned alive in front of my eyes. For the past 15 years, I have seen my mother being tortured over the fact that she could not give birth to a boy. When my sister Tanya was born 11 years ago, the three of us were thrown out of the house and we were living on rent. On the night of June 14, my grandmother and some other relatives came to our house and told my mother that they would get my father married to someone who could bear him a son. It led to an altercation which resulted in them setting my mother on fire. My little sister could not stop crying, but I had to be brave so I called up 100,” Latika told TOI.The Class IX student discovered the lackadaisical attitude of Uttar Pradesh Police when she called the police helpline number, but nobody picked up. She later called for an ambulance which never came. She gave up on calling up government authorities for help and called up her uncle who arrived 10 minutes later.“She called me up and then I rushed to their house. I was horrified to see what they had done to my sister. We rushed her to hospital, but she had suffered 95 per cent and could not survive. If the police had picked up the phone and reached in time, maybe she could have survived. The two main accused are my sister’s brother-in-law Rajesh Bansal and her mother-in-law Snehalata. They are still at large. I believe that they have bribed the cops. The girls couldn’t even turn to their father for help since he is complicit in their mother’s murder,” said Tarun Jindal, the victim’s brother.Latika said she has run from pillar to post seeking justice, but nobody helped her. “My uncle and I have gone to police officers of all ranks, but nobody has lifted a finger. That was when I decided to write a letter to the CM (Akhilesh Yadav) in my own blood. If the CM doesn’t respond to ink, maybe he will respond to my blood.”Meanwhile, Bulandshahr’s additional superintendent of police (city) Ram Mohan Singh said, “The victim’s husband, Manoj Bansal, was arrested soon after the complaint was filed. The complaint also mentions several other relatives, but most of them live outside Bulandshahr. The complaint was originally filed under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, but after an investigation Bansal was booked under section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the IPC. The husband even claimed that he suffered 32 per cent burns while trying to save her.”After a copy of Latika’s letter was put up on Twitter and it went viral, Bulandshahr police (@bulandshahrpol) tweeted, “A case was registered by the mother of the deceased under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code against eight people, including the husband of the deceased. The husband has been sent to jail and it was found that the names of the other seven accused were put wrongly in the complaint. The deceased had committed suicide by setting herself on fire.”