Dalit Woman Dies After Being Set on Fire in Maharashtra

Aurangabad: A 50-year old Dalit woman, who was set on fire by a man after she resisted his move to enter her house here in Maharashtra, has died, hospital authorities said on Thursday.

The woman, who suffered about 95 per cent burns in the incident that took place in Andhari village of Sillod tehsil on Sunday midnight, was undergoing treatment at the government medical college and hospital in Aurangabad city.

"She died on Wednesday night," the hospital's medical superintendent Suresh Harbade said. The accused, Santosh Mohite, 50, who was a neighbour of the woman in Andhari village, was arrested on Tuesday, a police official said.

Meanwhile, Lok Sabha member from Aurangabad Imtiaz Jaleel demanded that the case be tried in a fast-track court for ensuring justice to the victim and her family. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader said he has demanded in Parliament that hearing be conducted in fast-track courts in this case and that of burning of a woman in Wardha district. In Wardha, a 25-year-old lecturer was set ablaze by a stalker on Monday, leaving her critically injured.

In the Aurangabad case, the accused set the victim on fire after forcibly entering her residence, the police said. As per the woman's statement given to police before death, she tried to push Mohite out of her house, but in vain.

They had a quarrel following which Mohite set her ablaze, Sillod (rural) police station's inspector Kiran Bidve said. The accused later locked the door from outside and ran away, the police said. On hearing the woman's screams, some of her relatives staying in the vicinity rushed to the place and took her to a local hospital, from where she was referred to the government hospital in Aurangabad city.

"The woman suffered 95 per cent burns. She was kept on oxygen support," Harbade earlier said. The accused has been remanded in police custody till February 10 and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the police said.