Girl set on fire by jilted suitor in Uttarakhand dies in Delhi hospital

The 18-year-old girl, who was allegedly set afire by a stalker in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district Sunday and sustained around 80% burns, succumbed to her injuries in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Sunday morning.

The incident, which occurred on December 16 as she was returning from her college, had shocked the people of the state and was condemned by chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat who assured all government assistance in her treatment. She was initially undergoing treatment at AIIMS, Rishikesh from where she was airlifted to Safdarjung Hospital on Wednesday.

Senior superintendent of police, Pauri Garhwal, Jagat Ram Joshi, said, the girl died at around 9.30 am.

“Her family members have left Delhi with her body in the afternoon at around 3 and would be reaching the village at night around 11. The police have made all the arrangements so that the girl’s body could reach her village for last rites without any problems,” he said.

“The police are also on alert so as to avoid any untoward incident in the area as residents were angry over the incident which is usually unheard in the hills. The accused Manoj Singh, is already behind the bars and investigations are on,” he added.

Hindustan Times tried to contact the authorities of Safdarjung Hospital but were not able to.

The incident happened last Sunday at around 8pm when the girl was returning home on her two-wheeler after appearing in her practical examinations of B.Sc second year. Singh, who was harassing her since last few days, then stopped her and proposed to her.

The 31-year-old Singh, who is married and used to live in the neighbouring village, had proposed her several times earlier but she refused her every time. On Sunday evening also, she refused after which he poured petrol on her and set her on fire. He was later nabbed by police on the same night and produced before a court the next day which sent him to jail.

First Published: Dec 23, 2018 18:58 IST