Indian woman burnt alive over money dispute
Three men have stripped and burned alive a woman after an argument over money in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
The incident took place at Bohich village, 110km from New Delhi, the Indian Express reported, identifying the victim as Kamlesh, 35, a mother of four.
The paper quoted Kamlesh’s eldest child, 10-year-old Khushboo as saying the three brothers, who are neighbours, came to her house on Wednesday to claim 20,000 rupees ($416).
The money had been borrowed by Kamlesh’s husband Sukhbir Singh, who was away at the time, against a mortgaged land deed.
“When they asked Kamlesh to transfer the ownership of the land on Wednesday, she refused saying she can’t take the decision as her husband was away,” the Indian Express paper quoted senior police official Alok Sharma as saying.
Enraged by the refusal, the three men dragged Kamlesh out of her house and tore up her clothes, the report said.
The three men “started arguing with my mother about some money my father owed them. They wanted our land in their name. When my mother refused, they locked us up in a room. We could hear our mother screaming,” Khushboo said.
“She screamed, but nobody came out as it was midnight. It was foggy and dark,” she added.
Kerosene poured
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“She ran to our house and banged on our door. We opened the door to find her naked and writhing in pain” Victim’s neighbour |
As Kamlesh screamed for help, the three brothers poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze.
“She ran to our house and banged on our door. We opened the door to find her naked and writhing in pain,” the paper quoted a neighbour as saying.
Kamlesh was taken to hospital but died on Thursday afternoon.
In a statement to police before she died, Kamlesh said the men had tried to molest her and she fought back.
Police had caught two of the suspects and were looking for the third, the paper said.