Uttarakhand: Teen set ablaze for rejecting love proposal

Dehradun, Dec 18: A 31-year-old married man expressed his love to a college girl and when she refused, he poured petrol on her and set her ablaze. The ghastly incident took place in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal region.

The girl is a student of B.Sc second year while the accused, identified as Manoj Singh, is a driver by profession. Singh has now been arrested.

The girl sustained about 80% burn injuries and is undergoing treatment in AIIMS Rishikesh where she is said to be critical, said a Hindustan Times report.

The 18-year-old girl, the victim, was on her way back home from college in her two-wheeler when the accused stopped her. He expressed his love to which the girl refused straightaway saying she did not want to talk to him. He then poured petrol on her and set her ablaze. Singh then fled the spot, according to senior superintendent of police Pauri Garhwal, Jagat Ram Joshi.

The HT report further quoted Joshi as saying that Singh had been stalking her over the last few days and wanted to talk to her, which she refused repeatedly.

The students of the college where the girl studies have take to streets over the incident and Monday staged a protest at the district collectorate. Around 70-80 students, including the victim's classmates, raised slogans and demanded that the accused be hanged.