A DAY after she returned to her village, after staying away for eight years to escape her family’s wrath for marrying a man from a “lower caste”, a woman was allegedly burnt alive by a mob led by her brother and cousins on March 4.
The incident occurred in Pachlasa Chhota village of Dungarpur district, nearly 500 kilometres from here.
According to reports, none of the residents of the Rajput-dominated village intervened to save the woman, Rama Kanwar, as she was burnt alive.
While seven persons, including Rama’s brother Lakshman Singh Sisodia and cousin Praveen Singh, have been arrested, the police are looking for over 20 others.
According to the police, Rama, who was in her late twenties or early thirties, was earlier married to a person from a nearby village who belonged to her caste. A year later, she eloped with another man, Prakash Sevak, from her village.
Rama and her husband stayed away from their village for about eight years. On Thursday, they returned to Pachlasa Chhota with their three-year-old daughter.
At about 11 pm on Friday, Rama’s brother Lakshman Singh, accompanied by 28-30 people, reportedly went to her in-laws’ house. The men reportedly dragged out Rama, and beat up her mother-in-law, Kalavati, when she tried to intervene.
Rama was taken to the village square, where the mob reportedly poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze. In a bid to remove evidence, the perpetrators reportedly attempted to cremate the body, but were stopped by the police.
“The mob was led by the victim’s brother and the cousin. They beat up the mother-in-law too when she tried to intervene,” Dungarpur SP Anil Kumar Jain told The Indian Express.
“We have arrested seven persons. Thirty people have been named in the FIR. We are looking for the rest and will soon arrest them,” he said.
Source : Times of India
