A 31-year-old man was arrested on Sunday, 4 March for allegedly setting a 35-year-old married woman on fire, following which the woman succumbed to her injuries while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kota, police said.
The accused, identified as Rambharan Yadav, resident of Chitrakoot district in Uttar Pradesh, called Reena Koli, a fellow tenant, to his room on Friday and allegedly set her on fire after she refused to indulge in a physical relationship with him, they added.
Koli was rushed to a local community health centre and later referred to the Maharao Bhim Singh (MBS) hospital in Kota, where she died the same night.
Yadav was arrested from the Kawai railway station, Chepabarod police station SHO Ratan Singh Bhati said, adding that a local court sent him to a five-day police custody.
The incident occured on 2 March and the accused and deceased were both tenants in the same building in Koli Mohalla area of Chepabarod town, Bhati said.
The deceased, in her last statement to the police at the hospital, had alleged that Yadav doused her with kerosene before setting her ablaze, the SHO said.
Yadav was earlier booked for attempt to murder but the charge converted to murder after Reena’s death.
The accused’s wife had expired some time ago. He has two kids who live at their maternal uncle’s home in Uttar Pradesh, Hindustan Times reported.
The body was handed over to the family members on Saturday after postmortem, he added.
The accused was booked under section 302 of IPC and sections of SC/ST Act, he said.
(With inputs from the Hindustan Times.)
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