Husband sets wife afire after failing to push her off terrace in Odisha

The couple got married four years earlier and the woman’s family reportedly gave ₹1.70 lakh as dowry to her in-laws, who were allegedly demanding more money

Published on: Sep 2, 2022, 14:48:41 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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A 25-year-old woman was battling for her life with 30% burns after her husband allegedly set her on fire on Thursday evening after failing to push her off from the terrace of their house in Odisha’s Ganjam district. Police said the husband poured hand sanitiser on her before setting her on fire when the woman ran away.

Odisha ranked sixth in dowry deaths in 2021. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The woman managed to run into a neighbour’s house and was later rushed to a hospital in Berhampur. The couple got married four years earlier and the woman’s family reportedly gave ₹1.70 lakh as dowry to her in-laws, who were allegedly demanding more money.

The woman’s family lodged a police complaint over dowry in 2019 and the two families were trying to resolve the matter.

As per the 2021 National Crime Records Bureau data, Odisha ranked sixth in dowry deaths with 293 cases. The crimes against women rose by 23% in Odisha last year. Cases of cruelty by husbands or their relatives shot up by 33.62% compared to 2020. Trials were pending in as many as 98.6% of cases related to women, the highest in the country. The conviction rate in such cases was only 8.3% below the national average of 26.6%.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More