Youth smashes lover’s head, sets her on fire in Palladam

Tirupur: A 22-year-old youth was arrested here on Thursday after he burned his lover alive on Wednesday evening for pestering him to marry her.
The Palladam police identified the accused as G Lokesh, of Rayarpalayam. An investigation officer said Lokesh was in love with Pooja, 19, a resident of the same locality, for more than a year.
According to the officer, Pooja lost her parents when she was seven years old. “She was living in Mumbai. After the demise of her parents, she moved to her uncle’s house at Palladam. She has been working with a banian company, where she befriended Lokesh.”
The officer said their relationship wasn’t going well for the past few months because of differences of opinion. “The young woman often contacted Lokesh over the phone and asked him to marry her. On Wednesday around 3.45pm, Pooja called up Lokesh and asked him to meet her at Appan Kadu, an isolated place on Palladam-Pethampalayam Road, to sort out the issues.”
The duo, the officer said, met at Appan Kadu and their friendly chat ended in a heated argument. “In a fit of rage, Lokesh beat her with his belt and smashed her head with a stone. When she fell unconscious, he doused her with petrol that he was carrying in a bottle and set her afire.”
When local people noticed the fire, they rushed to the spot and put out the flames. They took Pooja to the government hospital at Palladam, where doctors gave her first aid and referred her to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital. She died at the CMCH without responding to treatment on Thursday morning.
In her dying declaration, the officer said, the young woman narrated the entire incident to police. “We registered a case against Lokesh under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and arrested him. He was later remanded in judicial custody and lodged in Coimbatore Central Prison.”