Woman, Burnt Alive By Former Colleague

Sandhya Rani, a receptionist for a company in Secunderabad, 24-year-old set on fire by a former colleague.

On the way home from work around 6.45 pm when Karthik came on a motorbike and stopped to speak to her. They had worked together about 2 years ago allegedly asked her to tell why she wouldn’t marry him. Both went on arguments and suddenly he pulled out a bottle hidden in his shirt and poured kerosene on Sandhya. He then lit a match to set her on fire and drove away before it could register on witnesses, the police say.

people rushed to her and put out the fire. But Sandhya had suffered more than 60 percent burns by then.She died in hospital this morning after giving a dying declaration to the police, in which she alleged that Kartik flew into a rage when she refused to marry him.

“Sandhya was a capable young woman who has gone to college. When she refused to marry him, he could not take it,” police officer Sumathy

Kartik, a school dropout, had worked in Sandhya’s firm two years ago but had lost his job. He had allegedly been chasing and harassing Sandhya for months.He reportedly told the police that she didn’t reciprocate his feelings and had returned a mobile phone he had gifted her.

“Karthik had no job for the past year and had been drinking a lot. She had been harassing her, pressing her to marry him and quit her job,” said officer Sumathi.

The two had recently argued on the phone, the officer said.

Kartik has been charged with murder, stalking and also under a law on atrocities against Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes.