A 25-year-old woman died on Friday after she was set on fire in southern India by a former colleague who was allegedly obsessed with her and had been stalking her.
Senior police officer, B Sumathi, said the victim, a receptionist for a firm near the city of Hyderabad, was on her way home from work on Thursday night when the suspect followed her on a motorcycle, stopped, and then began arguing with her.
Police said the accused had been stalking the woman who had spurned his advances and refused to marry him.
Sumathi said: “He had planned this attack in advance. After being told by the woman to back off, he poured petrol on her in full public view and set her on fire.
“On spotting the screaming woman in flames, people tried to save her and doused the fire but she sustained serious burn injuries and passed away in a hospital on Friday morning.”
The suspect, aged 24, was arrested by the police and faces charges of murder.
The man had worked in the same firm but had lost his job a year ago.
He had been harassing and chasing her since then, the police said.
Attacks on women and sexual violence have been a focus of public attention in India since the fatal gang rape of a student on a bus in New Delhi in 2012 triggered mass protests.
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