AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday condemned the death of a 19-year-old woman who was allegedly burned alive in Jharkhand by a man for spurning him, and demanded that a special court be designated to try the case.
It is "animalism" that a youth has burned the girl alive, he said.
"I, not only condemn, but demand the Jharkhand government to deal with the case properly. If possible, a (special) court be designated there to try the case. He (accused) should get the strongest punishment as per law," he told reporters.
"The incident happened in Dumka town on August 23 when the accused, identified as Shahrukh, allegedly poured petrol on the woman from outside the window of her house when she was sleeping and set her on fire," the police said.
The woman, a student of Class 12, was in critical condition with 90 per cent burns and referred to Ranchi's Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) for better treatment. She died in the early hours of Sunday at RIMS.
The accused, identified as Shahrukh, has already been arrested.
The incident happened in Dumka town when the woman was fast asleep at her home on Tuesday morning.
"Shahrukh allegedly poured petrol on the woman from a window and set her on fire. The accused is a construction worker," Kumar had told PTI.
According to the statement given to an executive magistrate, the woman had said that the accused called her on her mobile around 10 days back pestering her to become his friend.
"He called me again around 8 pm on Monday and told me that he would kill me if I did not talk to him. I informed my father about the threat after which he assured me that he would talk to the man's family on Tuesday. After having our dinner, we went to sleep. I was sleeping in another room."
"On Tuesday morning, I experienced a sensation of pain on my back and could smell something burning. I found him running away when I opened my eyes. I started screaming in pain and went to my father's room. My parents doused the fire and took me to the hospital," the woman had spoken with great difficulty while the police recorded her statement.
