Woman tehsildar burnt alive
In a gruesome incident, a woman tehsildar in Telangana was allegedly burnt alive by a man in her office on Monday.
The assailant was allegedly angry with revenue officials for not fixing the errors in his land documents, despite a court order.
Vijaya Reddy, in her 30s, died on the spot and two other employees -- an attendant and a driver – sustained injuries while trying to douse the flames. The assailant, too, collapsed after running for some distance in a bid to escape; he has been taken into custody and is hospitalised as he too has sustained burn injuries.
The incident happened at around 1.30 pm when K Suresh, a local resident, barged into the revenue officer’s cabin, poured petrol on her and set the victim afire using a lighter. It is understood that he had approached the tehsildar in the matter of his land dispute, the commissioner said, without elaborating.
Vijaya, a 2009 group-II officer, is survived by husband and two children. According to an eye-witness, loud shrieks were heard following which the staff rushed to the tehsildar's chamber and saw her running out engulfed in flames.
The shocking incident triggered protests by the revenue department employees across Telangana while political leaders condemned the episode. Asked about reports that the accused had faced problems in setting right his land records, an official said they could not respond as the assailant is undergoing treatment and is yet to be quizzed. Congress MP from Bhongir constituency, who also visited the office after the incident, alleged rampant discrepancies in land passbooks.