Uttarakhand: College student ‘set on fire by stalker’ dies

An 18-year-old woman, who was allegedly set on fire by her stalker in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district on December 16 and was undergoing treatment at Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital, succumbed to her injuries on Sunday.

According to a senior doctor at the hospital, the woman’s mother suffered a heart attack after hearing about her daughter’s death.

The woman was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Rishikesh last Monday with 70-80 per cent burns. She was then flown to Delhi in an air ambulance on Wednesday on the instructions of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat and admitted to the burn ward at Safdarjung Hospital.

“The woman suffered around 77 per cent burns and was brought to the hospital in a very critical condition. Most of the injuries were on her face and lungs. She died around 10 am on Sunday,” said a doctor from the hospital.

According to the police, Manoj Singh alias Bunty (31), a cab driver from Gehed village in Uttarakhand’s Pauri Garhwal district, had been stalking the woman for more than five years.

On December 16, the woman, a student at a college in Pauri, was returning home on her two-wheeler after a practical examination when, in a jungle on the way, Bunty doused her with petrol and set her ablaze.

Manoj Raturi, in-charge of Pauri police station, said, “He (Bunty) told us that he liked her since she was in Class IX. Bunty got married to another woman six months ago, but continued stalking the victim.”

“Bunty was angry with the woman for rejecting his advances, so he decided to kill her,” said Raturi.

Bunty was arrested on the night of the incident and is currently in Pauri jail.

The woman’s uncle said, “We want capital punishment for the killer. The punishment should be such that any person thinking of committing such a crime is deterred. We do not want life imprisonment, we want the killer to be hanged.” —With inputs from Uttarakhand