In a shocking incident, a man disguised as a woman set ablaze his lover after she refused to elope with him in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura district.
According to police, the woman started screaming, which alerted the neighbours, and they rushed to her. The 28-year-old accused, who donned a lehenga to disguise himself as a woman, tried to escape by jumping from the terrace and sustained serious injuries.
Both the victim, Rekha, and the accused were admitted to SN Medical College, Agra, the police said. Rekha sustained 70% burn injuries.
A senior police officer said the incident happened when Rekha’s husband had gone to work, and her two children had already left for school.
The accused, Umesh, who is a native of Haryana’s Hasanpur village, entered Rekha’s home from the terrace with a bottle of petrol, the police said.
He forced Rekha to elope with him, but she refused. Upset Umesh poured petrol on her and set her ablaze.
The neighbours alerted the police, who rushed to the spot and took them to a community centre, but the doctors referred them to SN Medical College.
The police said earlier, Umesh used to visit Rekha’s place frequently, and an affair started between them. The two left for Himachal Pradesh. But, later, police brought back Rekha from Himachal Pradesh’s Kinnaur district after her family filed a police complaint.
Since then, Rekha maintained a distance from Umesh. She had realised her mistake. Umesh wanted to elope with her, and when she refused, he set her ablaze.
