Nine days after being set on fire by partner, woman dies

The woman worked as a labourer in a footwear factory and was living with the man for the past six years after leaving her husband.

A 28-year-old woman succumbed to her burns at AIIMS Trauma Centre on Monday, nine days after she was set on fire by her boyfriend in outer Delhi’s Balbir Vihar near Aman Vihar, police said, adding they arrested the man on Tuesday.

Mohit (30), who is a plumber, in custody.

Mohit (30), who is a plumber and the woman (whose name has been withheld by the police) lived together, police said. The couple fought on February 10, after the woman found him taking drugs at his friend’s house. Mohit felt humiliated and when he returned home late at night, an altercation broke out between them again. Mohit poured turpentine oil (a paint solvent) on her body and set her on fire, the police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (Rohini) Guriqbal Singh Sidhu said that on February 11, the Aman Vihar police station team received a call informing them that a woman was admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital with burn injuries. A police team found the injured woman unfit to record her statement. She was shifted to Safdarjung Hospital and later to AIIMS Trauma Centre for further treatment.

During the enquiry, the DCP said, police learnt that the woman worked as a labourer in a footwear factory and was living with Mohit for the past six years after leaving her husband. She had two children – an eight-year-old son with her husband and a four-year-old daughter with Mohit.

“The investigating officer regularly visited the hospital to record her statement but could not do so because of her critical condition. On Monday (February 20), we received information from the hospital that the woman succumbed to her injuries. Accordingly, a case of murder was registered on the statement of her family members. They blamed Mohit for her death. We arrested him after investigation,” added DCP Sidhu.