A youth set ablaze a schoolgirl of Naduvakottai near Tirumangalam in Madurai district after dousing her with petrol while she was walking back home from school in Achampatti on Friday evening.
The girl, who has been critically injured, has been admitted to the Goverment Rajaji hospital.
The police identified the suspect to be one S. Balamurugan (22) of the same Naduvakottai village. “An unrequited love proposal made by the youth is what looks like the motive behind the crime,” said the Madurai rural district Superintendent of Police, N. Manivannan.
The girl was walking along with fellow students from her village.
The youth, who rode a motorbike intercepted her, doused her with petrol and set afire before fleeing from the scene. “Minor students, who were witness to the incident, could not do anything out of fear,” he added. No one else was injured in the incident.
A special team has been formed to nab the accused, he added.
