'Be My Friend Or Else...': Jharkhand Victim's Dad Claims Accused Threatened Her

The victim's father said that the main accused was pestering her to become friends with him.

People gathered for the victim's funeral procession. 

(Photo: The Quint)

A teenager in Jharkhand's Dumka district, who succumbed to burn injuries on Sunday, 28 August, after she was allegedly set on fire by a man whose overtures she did not reciprocate, was allegedly troubled by the man for several days prior to her death.

The victim's father told The Quint that the main accused, who has since been arrested, was pestering her to become friends with him.

The father further said that a man, who resides next to the victim's house, had got the victim's number through her friend ten days ago.

"After that he constantly kept troubling her by calling. On the night of 22 August as well he had called and threatened saying, become my friend or else face grave consequences," the father said.

Background

The second accused in the case was arrested on Monday.

In a video, the victim, who was being treated for her burns for the past one week, said that two boys came with a petrol bottle to her house and threw it inside her room through the window and ran away after setting fire. "I had opened the window and seen. They should get appropriate punishment as I'm dying," she had said in the video.

The victim, who was a class 12 student, was admitted to Phulo Jhano Medical College and Hospital in Dumka in critical condition with 90 percent burns. Later, she was referred to Ranchi's Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) for better treatment, the police added.

The accused, who was arrested last week, had thrown inflammable liquid into the room and lit up the curtains, the police said. They added that the accused also threw the liquid inside the room so that she could not escape and was trapped inside. Her family and friends rescued her.

"On Tuesday morning, I felt pain in 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 victim had earlier told the police.