A 30-year-old woman was set ablaze allegedly by her in-laws over a dowry demand of ₹5 lakh on Tuesday night in Greater Noida’s Kalupura village, the police said on Thursday.
The victim who has sustained 75% burns is said to be critical, they said, adding that no arrests have been made.
On Tuesday night, Chanchal’s in-laws poured kerosene on her and then set her on fire. The accused are on the run, they added.
“We received information about the incident at 10 p.m. following which a team was sent to the spot. By this time, the victim’s neighbours had taken her to the hospital,” said Sunil Singh, SHO at Rabupura police station.
Her brother Yashpal Sharma said the victim had called him on Tuesday. “She was crying over the phone and had asked me to come to pick her up. She said her in-laws were beating and threatening that they will set her on fire,” said Mr. Sharma.
“We gave them [in-laws] money as dowry at the time of the marriage. Her husband is an alcoholic. I had arranged ₹5 lakh for him because he wanted to start a new business but he had spent the money. After this, he asked my sister to again arrange for ₹5 lakh. He had tried to kill her,” he added.
“We have registered a case against four people including her husband Tribhuvan, father-in-law Prakash, mother-in-law Rajkumari and brother-in-law Sonu under Sections 323 [punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 307 (attempt to murder), 498A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) along with relevant sections of Dowry Prohibition Act of the Indian Penal Code,” said Mr. Singh.
