In a tragic incident from Kerala, a woman police officer in Alappuzha district was set on fire by a man in broad daylight on Saturday. The police officer died on the spot after the man stabbed her, poured petrol on her and then set her on fire.
The deceased has been identified as Soumya Pushpakaran, a Civil Police Officer (COP) of Vallikunnam police station in Alappuzha. She was attacked when she was returning home from duty.
The man has been identified as Ajaz, a police officer of Aluva traffic station.
The incident took place around 3 pm on Saturday. As per reports, Soumya was returning home after duty on her motorcycle when Ajaz, who came in a car, knocked her two-wheeler down. Though she tried to run away, he chased her, stabbed her and then set her on fire, which led to her death immediately.
The 34-year-old CPO was living with her three children in Vallikunnam. “Her eldest child is just studying in Class 3. Her husband is working abroad,” a police official at the Vallikunnam police station and a colleague of Soumya told TNM.
The police said that the man who committed the crime has also been injured in the attack. “He has also incurred burn injuries and is being treated at the Alappuzha Medical College,” said the official.
The motive behind the crime is unknown yet as the police said Ajaz is still unconscious.
"We don't know any other information. The inquest process is going on," KM Tomy, district police chief of Alappuzha, told TNM.
This incident comes just two months after a 21-year-old woman was burnt alive in Thrissur on April 4. The victim, Neethu, was at her house when the accused Nidheesh barged in, set her on fire and tried to flee. The victim was an engineering student at the Axis Engineering College in Kodakara.
Just weeks before that, on March 13, Kavitha Vijaykumar, a 20-year-old student, was set on fire by her stalker, Ajin Reji Mathew, in Pathanamthitta. Kavitha, who had sustained 65% burn injuries in the attack, succumbed to her injuries and passed away eight days later. The accused was arrested for murder. Kavitha's parents had told TNM that although she had informed them about a stalker, they did not take it seriously.