Woman set on fire by veggis seller after marriage offer rejection

A 32-year-old woman has sustained grievous burn injuries after she was attacked by a jilted man at her house in Ekta Nagar, Jalandhar, after she refused his offer of marriage.

Sukhvinder Verma, who had lost her husband and is a mother of two, is a resident of the Ekta Nagar, Phase 2, in the Rama Mandi area of Jalandhar. She was attacked by Bassa, a vegetable seller, at her home in the night.

The accused reportedly retrieved petrol from his motorbike and flung it on the woman and her two children and set the trio on fire.

Sukhvinder has reportedly sustained 50 per cent burn injuries while her children have also suffered burns in the attack. Her daughter’s legs have also been burnt.

Bassa, who is a resident of Bazigar Basti at Rama Mandi, used to visit the woman daily to sell vegetables.

He started pressuring her to marry him but she refused him. However, after being slapped by her recently, Bassa resorted to this extreme step to take revenge.

The Rama Mandi police have booked Bassa under Section 109 (attempt to murder) of the BNS. Bassa is at large.

Sukhvinder was taken to the Civil Hospital in Jalandhar by her kin and neighbours but she was eventually referred to the Medical College, Amritsar, where she is under treatment.

In his statement to the police, Sukhvinder’s brother Balvinder Singh, resident of Kaki village, stated that his younger sister had been married to Bunty who had died some time after their wedding. For the past five months, Sukhvinder had been residing at Ekta Vihar where Bassa began harassing her.

SHO Navdeep Singh said, “The woman received 32 per cent burn injuries and was saved due to the timely intervention of her neighbours and her kin. She is currently under treatment at Amritsar. The accused has been booked for attempt to murder and the police are on the lookout for him and raids are on. He will be caught soon."

Jalandhar