Madurai: Minor girl set ablaze by youth succumbs to burns

After battling for life for ten days, a 14-year-old schoolgirl who was set on fire by a stalker near Thirumangalam on February 16 succumbed to burns at the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai on Tuesday.

The police said the Class IX student of Naduvakottai breathed her last at 4:45 a.m.

The minor girl was being stalked by a local youth S. Balamurugan, 22, for sometime. Angered over the girl spurning his marriage proposal, the youth



intercepted her when she was returning home back from school and doused the girl with petrol and set her ablaze in full public view.

Incidentally, the girl's mother, who happened to pass through the spot, was witness to the crime. An autodriver helped to put out the flames and rushed her to the hospital. The girl was battling for her life with around 70% of burn injuries.

The Madurai district police arrested the accused the next day.