Rejection of marriage proposal is said to be the provocation for the murder of Soumya Pushkaran, woman police officer by a police official, who was burned alive at Alappuzha district in South Kerala on Saturday.

She was attached to the Vallikunnam police station at Mavelikkara in Alappuzha. Alappuzha district police chief K M Tomy said that Soumya, who was married and mother of three children, rejected repeated marriage requests by the accused Ajaz, a civil police officer attached to a traffic police unit at Aluva in Ernakulam district.

After being constantly pestered by Ajaz, Soumya recently blocked his telephone calls, which reportedly provoked him to commit the crime.

Soumya's elder son, aged around ten, informed the police that Soumya had told him earlier that if something worse happened to her he should tell the police that Ajaz was responsible. Soumya's mother informed the police that she was aware of the issue and Ajaz was constantly harassing her mentally and physically.

Sources say Ajaz and Soumya earlier worked together and were quite close to each other. Soumya had borrowed around Rs 1.5 lakh from Ajaz earlier. Soumya's mother said she accompanied Soumya when she met Ajaz and pleaded him to take back the money and stop disturbing her. He refused and insisted on marrying her.

While Soumya's mother claimed that Soumya had informed her senior colleagues about the matter, police officials at Valikunnam said that they were not aware of any such issues.

Ajaz's statement could not be taken as he was under treatment for the burns suffered while committing the crime.

Ajaz came in a car and knocked down Soumya who was riding a two-wheeler on Saturday afternoon near her house. He caught hold of her and hacked her using a machete, poured petrol on her and set her on fire. He suffered burns in the process and could not escape. Residents in the area detained him and handed him over to police.

Soumya's funeral would be performed after her husband, who is working abroad, comes back.