An engineering student was burnt alive at her house in Chennai allegedly by her former classmate and a jilted lover, who had been stalking her for about a month.
The stalker set S Induja, on fire at the doorstep of her home in the city's Adambakkam area on Monday night, reported India Today.
Induja's mother Renuka and younger sister Nivedita also suffered burn injures while trying to save her. While Renuka suffered around 50% burns and Nivedita has been kept in the ICU.
According to Indhuja's uncle, the man turned up to the house around 9pm, and requested to talk to her. When Indhuja opened the door, the jilted lover threw petrol on her, dousing her mother and sister in the process, report added. He then used a lighter to set her on fire.
Other reports, however, claim that there had been an altercation between Indhuja and the stalker first, after which he poured the petrol on her.
Indhuja was taken to the Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) hospital in Chennai, where she succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday morning.
Induja's father was not at home at the time, according to NDTV.
This is the third such incident in the last four years. A few years ago, a young woman was killed at her work place when she was attacked with acid by a man she had turned down. Another young woman techie was killed in an acid attack by a man she had rejected, the report added.
According to the statistics on crime against women tabled in the Lok Sabha by minister of state for home Hansraj Ahir recently, stalking cases showed a consistent rise in last three years.
More than 18,000 cases of stalking were registered in last three years in the country.
As per the data, 7,132 cases of stalking were registered in 2016, 6,266 cases in 2015 and 4,699 cases in 2014.
(With PTI inputs)
