Tribal woman set on fire in MP's Guna, two held

Bhopal: A tribal woman who was set on fire in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district is still critical and battling for her life with severe burn injuries on her body. The woman was set on fire by a group of men over a land dispute on Saturday.

Local police claimed to have arrested two persons involved in the case and they have been booked for attempt of murder while one accused was still absconding, a police official told IANS on Monday.

The incident took place on Saturday afternoon in Dhanoria village under Bamori police station limits, over 250 km from the state capital Bhopal. A video, purportedly shot by the accused, went viral on social media, in which the woman was seen crying in pain, with smoke all around her.

The person shooting the video was heard saying the woman had torched herself, and "let us shoot the video".

The woman's husband, Arjun Saharia, complained to police that when he reached his farm on Saturday afternoon, he found his wife, Rampyari Bai, lying there with severe burn injuries.

When the man enquired, his wife told him that she was set on fire by three persons, identified as Pratap, Shyam Kirar and Hanumat, the official said quoting the complainant.

The woman was referred to a hospital in Bhopal for further treatment as her condition was critical, he said. Two of the accused were arrested, while search was on for the third person, who is absconding, the official said.

The complainant told the police that the accused had forcibly usurped his land, which was freed by the local administration in May this year and handed over to him, he said. "Two accused have been arrested and search for a third accused involved in the crime is underway. Woman has sustained severe burn injuries and she is still critical," police said.