Woman set afire after assault complaint dies

LUCKNOW: A 30-year-old woman who was set on fire, allegedly by the family members of a man she had accused of molestation, succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi district on Monday, police said.

The 50 year-old mother of the accused has been arrested and booked under section 302 (murder) of Indian Penal Code on the basis of a complaint by the deceased’s family, police added. The woman from Mahoba district, who was set ablaze after she lodged an FIR against her neighbour on Saturday, had sustained over 90% burn injuries.

According to Mahoba superintendent of police (SP) Sudha Singh, the woman had accused her neighbour of assault and molestation.

“On Saturday, she (the victim) registered a case against her neighbour for beating and molesting her,” the SP said on Sunday.

Angered by her complaint, the SP added, the parents of the accused poured kerosene on the woman and set her on fire. “I spoke to the woman and she told us that the parents of the accused had set her afire after finding her alone in a field, where she had gone to relieve herself on Sunday morning,” the SP said.

Station house officer (SHO) of Kul Pahad police station, Mahendra Pratap Singh, said the woman was rushed to a medical college in the adjoining Jhansi district for treatment.

The complaint by her family, however, did not name the accused’s father, the SHO added.

The deceased was mother of three children and her husband works in a factory in Gujarat, police said.