Karnataka

Woman sets herself ablaze, dies

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It was a normal sunny day in the city on Tuesday, and also at the office of the Superintendent of Police located near the Durgamma temple, a bit away from the main road.

But at 1.10 p.m., everyone in the city was in for a shock. An unidentified woman immolated herself, just a few metres from the main gate of the SP’s office compound. Nobody, including the sentry on duty, standing inside the compound, had an iota of suspicion that they would be witness to the ghastly incident.

No one noticed the woman standing there. According to eye witnesses, she doused herself with petrol, set herself on fire, and ran from one end of the road to the other. She fell almost immediately. The incident was over in less than five minutes, even before the sentry and passersby could rush to her rescue.

The police tried their best to douse the blaze. Finally, a woman constable gave the victim a little water and covered her with a bedsheet. The ambulance arrived and rushed her to the VIMS Hospital.

The woman, with around 90 per cent burns, was declared brought dead to the hospital.

“It has come as a shock to us. Such an incident has occurred for the first time in my over 35 years of service,” a senior police official said.

Except the petrol can, no other belongings of the deceased was found in the vicinity. Till 8.30 p.m., the police were not able to establish the identity of the deceased, and no relative had approached them to claim the body.

Chetan Singh Rathore, Superintendent of Police, said efforts were on to identify the body.

“We will verify the CCTV footage at our office to identify the woman, besides verifying the complaints of missing persons within the city and from other police stations in the district. We will also try to verify whether she had submitted any petition to this office. Once we establish the identity then it would be easy to ascertain the reason for committing suicide,” he said.

He said the woman was aged between 30 and 40, and was married going by the silver rings on her toes. He also said the DNA of the deceased would be preserved to match it with anyone coming to claim the body.

Gandhi Nagar police have registered a case.
(The Hindu)

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