Burns victim succumbs at OGH

​Hyderabad: The 17-year-old girl, who was set ablaze by a stalker on Tuesday, succumbed to her burns on Friday. It may be recalled that on Tuesday, Sohail (19), with whom the minor girl was reportedly in a relationship in the past, barged into her house when she was alone, after learning that the girl’s engagement ceremony has been held recently. 

When the girl failed to yield to his demand of marrying him, enraged Sohail doused the girl in kerosene and set her on fire.  “I tried removing kerosene by pouring some water on me, but in vain. I also tried to run out, but he confined me and threw me onto the couch. Then he set me ablaze,” the victim said in a video statement.

He left the place soon after the victim was engulfed in fire. Hearing the shrieks of the girl, neighbours called an ambulance and sent her to hospital. The girl received 70 per cent burn injuries and underwent treatment for three days in Osmania General Hospital. 

While the victim’s father died five years ago, her mother went to work on the fateful day. The victim was a school dropout. During the preliminary investigation, it was revealed that Sohail was harassing the girl for the last eight months.

“We will nab the accused very soon, and the investigation is underway,” said Anand Kumar, Inspector, Amberpet.  In a similar case, in December 2017, a 25-year-old woman, Sandhya Rani, was set ablaze by a stalker for rejecting his marriage proposal at Lalaguda. She too breathed her last three days later in the hospital.