Chennai girl dies after stalker sets her on fire
A young woman in Chennai died of burns after she, her mother and her sister were allegedly set on fire by a man who police said had been stalking her.
Police detained the suspect, 23-year-old Akash, who had been pursuing Induja against her wishes for nearly a month.
The attack took place around 9 pm on Monday, when Akash went to the woman’s house in South Chennai’s Velachery.
He had taken along a yellow plastic canister, police said, and first threatened to commit suicide outside the house.
When the three women came out, he reportedly threw petrol on them and set them afire with a cigarette lighter. Hearing the screams of the women, the neighbours came to their rescue and called the police and an ambulance.
Induja died before she could be taken to hospital.
Investigating office inspector S Murali told HT that the motive of the crime was “very clear”. “He was pursing the girl even though she rejected him.”
He said Akash was unemployed, and the woman was doing a specialised course after completing her engineering.
A neighbour said the ambulance arrived 40 minutes after a call was made.
The trio was rushed to the Kilpauk Medical College hospital.
“The mother has 49% burns, daughter has 23% burns. They are very critical and are in ICU. If they need ventilator support, it is ready. We are providing them all medical facilities. We will be able to (talk about) their survival only after 48 hours,” the dean of the hospital said.
Induja’s father is working in Canada.
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