Birbhum shocker: 22-year-old woman burnt alive by in-laws for being 'dark skinned'

Birbhum, June 9: In a shocking incident, a woman was roasted alive by her husband and in-laws, to pave way for a fair bride.

The inhumane incident took place on Friday, June 3 at Parun village of Rampurhat town in Birbhum district of West Bengal, when a 22-year-old woman and a mother of 2-year-old boy, was set ablaze by her husband, three brothers-in-laws and mother-in-law.

The accused in-laws allegedly poured kerosene on Somera Bibi and locked her inside a room. After hearing her screams, her neighbours broke open the door and rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she succumbed to burn injuries a day later.

Her killer husband, Nasir Sheikh, who is a mason is absconding alongwith his mother Majlima Biwi and elder brothers Jamir Sheikh, Samir Sheikh and Akhirul Sheikh. Police has registered a murder against them and search has begun to hunt them.

Police investigation revealed that she was tortured before being killed mercilessly. Six months before, Somera's in-laws had demanded Rs 2 lakh from her parents-- Piyar Baksh Sheikh and Tandila, who are farmers, to build thier house. The poor family managed to pay them Rs 50,000.

Few months later, they again demanded Rs 3 lakh from her family and threatened her to send to her parent's home, if they fail to give them cash. When Somera protested, they decided to kill her.

Nasir got married to Somera three years ago and demanded Rs 1 lakh cash and 10 cottahs of land in dowry, to "compensate" for her dark complexion. In three years, she was tortured, beaten and abused for bringing more dowry.

Nasir's mother used to taunt Somera by saying, "You are dark. We don't want you in the family. We could have got a much better-looking girl for our son."

OneIndia News