Dalit woman set on fire over Rs 20,000 loan repayment dispute in UP

Police said Reshami had borrowed Rs 20,000 from Satyam and Sonu and claimed to have repaid the amount with interest. However, the two lenders were demanding more.

A Dalit woman was set on fire allegedly by two local moneylenders following a dispute over repayment of a loan in a village in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia district early on Friday, police said.

Police said they have arrested the moneylenders Satyam Singh and Sonu Singh. (AFP FILE PHOTO)

The woman, Reshami (40), of Jajauli Number 1 village, sustained 60% burns and is undergoing treatment in Varanasi, they said.

Superintendent of police Anil Kumar, who recorded the statement of the victim, said the police had arrested moneylenders Satyam Singh and Sonu Singh.

A case has been registered in this connection. Further investigations are on, he said.

A police officer privy to the investigation said Reshami told the SP that she had borrowed Rs 20,000 from Satyam and Sonu and repaid the amount with interest.

She alleged that despite repayment, the two men kept demanding more money.

Reshami told the SP that she was sleeping under a thatch about 100 metres away from her house when two people reached there and set her afire after dousing her with kerosene.