Barely 48 hours after a teacher from Wardha district of Maharashtra was set ablaze by a stalker on Monday morning, a 50-year-old woman was assaulted and set on fire by a man at her home in Aurangabad on Tuesday.
According to a report, the incident took place around 11 p.m on Tuesday night when the accused who has been identified as Santosh S. Mohite barged into the victim’s home and abused and assaulted her. When the woman tried to scream for help, the accused got angry and poured kerosene which was lying in the house on her.
Police said that the accused who is a beer bar owner in Andhari village locked the door after setting the woman on fire and ran away from the crime spot. Hearing the screams of the woman and seeing the smoke emanating from her home, some neighbours rushed to the spot to douse the fire. Later, they took the woman to a hospital and alerted the police about the same. The woman who suffered 95 per cent burn, is battling for life.
Talking on the same, Babashah B. Pathan, police inspector of Aurangabad police station said, “The victim is extremely critical, but did manage to record her statement. We have arrested the accused and booked him for various offences including an attempt to murder. We are trying to ascertain the motives behind the crime and further investigations are on.”
Later the incident Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh held a high-level meeting with police officials to discuss the crime against women with the Minister of State for Home Shambhuraj Desai on Wednesday.
The incident of setting women ablaze has left the nation shocked.
So much is the rage that on Tuesday people of Wardha district staged a huge protest very next day where the woman teacher was set ablaze. Also, many people have been demanding instant capital punishment in public for the accused for getting into such heinous crimes.
