An alleged stalker set a minor girl on fire on Tuesday at her house in Ganga Nagar near Hyderabad’s Amberpet area. The police said that the accused in the case was also a minor, and the motive was still being probed. They are yet to arrest the accused.
The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon when the accused visited the girl's house while she was alone.
"Both of them were drop-outs and were not pursuing their education. As they had been classmates at one point, they knew each other," Amberpet Inspector AP Anand Kumar told TNM.
According to preliminary investigation, the police said that the girl's family had recently arranged her wedding and even held an engagement ceremony. The family planned to conduct the wedding as soon as she turned 18, the police said.
When the accused visited the victim, the police said that a fight broke out after the latter refused to share her new phone number.
"Following this, he doused the victim in kerosene and set her on fire. The girl's screams were heard by the neighbours and she was shifted to the Osmania General Hospital (OGH) and was admitted with 70% burns," the Inspector said.
The victim was shifted to the burns ward, where doctors said that her condition remained critical as of Tuesday night.
The accused was also injured in the incident, as he burnt his hands. However, he told the locals that the girl had tried to immolate herself and he had suffered the injuries while trying to stop her.
"However, we managed to record the girl's statement, and she told us what happened. While we can't reveal all the details yet, she has accused the boy of setting her on fire," the Inspector added.
The police also said that a case has been registered under Section 307 (Attempt to murder) of the IPC, and further investigation is on.
When asked about why the accused was yet to be arrested, the police said that they would take further action after ‘legal advice’.
This is the second such case in recent times, as in December last year, 22-year-old Sandhya Rani was set on fire in full public view as she was returning home from work in the city’s Lalaguda area.
Sandhya sustained 80% burns and she was rushed to the government-run Gandhi Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
In January this year, 24-year-old B Janaki, who was working as a sales woman in a supermarket, was killed when her colleague allegedly stabbed her in her house at Moosapet.
Police said Anand, who was working with Janaki in the supermarket in KPHB, had been harassing her for more than six months. He had come to her house about 10 days ago before she was murdered and had threatened to kill her and kill himself if she did not marry him.