A 19-year-old woman in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district died on Sunday, days after her family set her on fire along with her husband for marrying outside her caste, The Indian Express reported. The police have arrested the woman’s uncles Surendra Bhartiy and Ghansham Saroj, and are searching for her father Rama Bhartiy.
According to the police, the incident took place in Nighoj village of Parnar taluk on May 1. Sub-Inspector Vijaykumar Bothre told The Indian Express that Rukmini and Mangesh fell in love and got married despite the objections of Rukmini’s family. Rukmini was from the Lohar community while her husband is from the Pasi community. The couple married around six months ago, according to Mumbai Mirror.
“While Mangesh’s family members were present for the wedding, only Rukmini’s mother attended the ceremony,” Bothre said. “All this while Rukmini’s family members had been threatening to harm the couple saying they were against the intercaste marriage.”
Bothre said the couple had an argument on April 30, following which Rukmini went back to her parents. “Mangesh told us that on May 1, Rukimini called him to take her with him,” said Bothre. “But when Mangesh went there, her family refused to let her go. After a heated argument in the afternoon, her two uncles set the couple on fire in a room by pouring petrol on them in the presence of her father, who had locked the room from outside.”
Bothre said neighbours took the couple to a hospital. They were moved to Sasoon General Hospital in Pune for further treatment, according to Bothre. The hospital’s medical superintendent Ajay Taware confirmed that Rukmini died of her burn injuries on Sunday night, Mangesh is still being treated, he added.
In April, the parents of a 24-year-old woman were booked by the district police for allegedly burning her alive for marrying a man from a different caste.
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