Woman burns to death, police probe murder angle

Greater Noida: A 21-year-old woman was charred to death under mysterious circumstances at her parents-in-law’s house in Farenda Bangar village of Rabupura in Greater Noida on Thursday night.
The deceased was identified as Pooja Singh (21), who was from another village in Rabupura. She was a homemaker while her husband Rahul Singh (24) is a farmer. The couple got married on July 6 last year.
The incident occurred around 10.20pm on Thursday when a small fire broke out in the woman’s bedroom when she was reportedly alone. Police were informed soon after.
“We received a call around 10.30pm on the police helpline number. A team was immediately sent to the spot and the woman was rushed to a local hospital. She was declared dead on arrival. A forensic team carried out a preliminary investigation and an autopsy was conducted on the body,” said Ashok Venkatesh, SHO of Rabupura police station.
The officer said primary statements from the parents-in-law suggested that Pooja was alone in her room when the fire broke out. “The woman’s in-laws have claimed that all of them had gone out to the fields after having dinner when the woman allegedly set herself on fire. We are probing all possible angles,” Venkatesh said.
Pooja’s brother Lokesh said his family had spoken to her over the phone the same afternoon and she seemed fine. “Around 2pm, she spoke to me over phone. She then spoke to my mother for about 20 minutes. She was0 in no way suicidal. Our family is in shock,” Lokesh said.
The officer said they were yet to receive any complaint. “A primary investigation was carried out on the spot. We are waiting for the autopsy report to ascertain the cause of death. An FIR would be filed registered only when a complaint is filed at the police station,” Venkatesh added.