Bihar woman charred to death in arson attack for fighting back against harasser

The relatives of the two said the arson attack on Tuesday followed an altercation the woman had with the man, Nand Kumar Kushwaha, for resisting sexual harassment

A 29-year-old Dalit woman was charred to death while her five-year-old daughter was struggling for her life with burn injuries at a hospital after a man allegedly set their house on fire after locking it up at Chakia in Bihar’s Arwal district.

The accused has been arrested. (HT PHOTO (Representative))

The relatives of the two said the arson attack on Tuesday followed an altercation the woman had with the man, Nand Kumar Kushwaha, for resisting sexual harassment.

“It is suspected that the same person set the house on fire,” said a relative. The relative added the local police station is barely 400 metres from the house of the two. She alleged police refused to register a case against Kushwaha when she lodged a verbal complaint.

Inspector general G M R Nayak said Kushwaha, 32, was later arrested. He added a case has been lodged against him and his relative Kalawati Devi, 42.

The 29-year-old woman’s husband told police that Kushwaha, a father of three, allegedly sexually harassed his sister-in-law and that the 29-year-old resisted it.