A 22-year-old man has been arrested for killing his lover, a minor girl studying in class 12, by setting her on fire in Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district.
According to police, S Selvakumar had eloped with the 17-year-old girl on Saturday.
On Sunday morning, the girl was found charred with burns at her grandmother’s house in Negamam village in Pollachi taluka of Coimbatore district.
Selvakumar, who works in a power loom factory nearby, was missing. He had allegedly doused her with kerosene and set her on fire after not being able to convince her to get into a suicide pact due to the parent’s opposition to their relationship, and run away.
The girl was rushed to Coimbatore Medical College Hospital by her grandmother and neighbours. She suffered 90% burn injuries and succumbed on Sunday evening.
Police later arrested Selvakumar. A judicial magistrate has already recorded the dying declaration of the girl, police said.