Woman techie set ablaze by spurned man in Chennai

A 21-year-old woman was set afire reportedly by a former schoolmate for declining his marriage proposal, police said on Tuesday.

The victim's sister and mother suffered severe burns when they tried to save her, and are in critical condition.

S Induja, a BTech graduate working with an IT firm, died on the spot after Aakash (22) set her ablaze at her residence on Monday night. The man has been arrested and was produced in a court on Tuesday.

Aakash, a college dropout, and Induja studied in the same school. He had been pestering Induja to marry him. On learning that her family was looking for a groom for her, Aakash went to Induja's residence and once again proposed to her. She rejected the proposal. Enraged, Aakash doused her with kerosene and set her on fire.

"Aakash decided to make his marriage proposal to Induja for one last time yesterday. He had made up his mind that if she did not agree to it, she should not marry anyone else," a senior police official told PTI.

Demanding a strong punishment to the offender, PMK chief S Ramadoss said it was a "matter of concern that the government has not taken any steps to rein in violence against women, staged in the name of 'one-side love'".

Recalling a host of similar incidents in Tamil Nadu, including the murder of a software engineer (Swathi) at a railway station here last year, the PMK leader said "stringent punishment must be given to stalkers of women".

He also mooted a separate wing in police comprising women to curb crime against the fairer sex.