MP woman sets herself on fire to save crop in field

A woman in a Madhya Pradesh village set her on fire in protest against the anti-encroachment drive being carried out in her farmland by the local administration.

A video showing the woman, identified as Shabra Bi (45), suddenly turning her into a ball of fire after pouring kerosene on her while protesting against the anti-encroachment drive, has gone viral in social media.

The incident occurred on Tuesday, but it came to light on Thursday when former chief minister Kamal Nath tweeted the video demanding a probe into it.

The woman, a resident of Atwas village under Satwas police station in Dewas district, received 20 percent burns following the incident. She has been admitted to a hospital in Indore. Her condition was stated to be stable. Her husband Ramzan Khan alleged that the authorities had started destroying the soybean crop in their farm field paying no heed to their pleading not to damage their crop.

“I do not know from where Shabra brought kerosene to immolate her. She poured kerosene and lit her by the time we could take notice of it,” he said.

However, Dewas district SP Shivdayal Singh said Shabra Bi and ten others attacked the team of police and revenue officials leading to injuries to two revenue inspectors. “There was a complaint that Shabra Bi and her family had encroached upon government land. The revenue court had settled the issue last week and the revenue team had gone there to free the land of encroachment when Shabra Bi and ten others attacked them”, he said.