Girl set ablaze in Srikakulam, succumbs to injuries after 40 day battle
By Newsmeter Network Published on 7 March 2020 5:28 PM GMT
Srikakulam, March 7: A 14-year-old Dalit girl, A Bhuvaneswari from Rajam of Srikakulam district, who was battling for life for the last 40 days died on Saturday night at a corporate hospital while undergoing treatment in Vizag city. The girl had over 80 per cent burn injuries. However, the cause of her death remains a mystery.
The parents and relatives of the victim girl claimed that the girl was set ablaze by two youngsters, including the girl’s senior student and his friend.
However, the police failed to get any concrete clue to establish the murder angle and the police suspected it was a case of suicide.
It may be recalled that the girl suffered burn injuries near her home in Rajam of Srikakulam district on January 28 evening after she was allegedly torched by two youngsters.
The girl’s parents A Sankara Rao and A Lakshmi alleged that police failed to conduct proper investigation into the case as the boy belonged to an upper-caste community.
In her dying declaration, the girl claimed that two youngsters set fire on her when she was attending nature’s call near her home. Later, the girl claimed that her senior student was responsible for the incident.
Inspector of Rajam Police station, G Somasekhar, who investigated the case said that they have examined the CCTV footage and noticed that at the time of the incident, the suspected boy was found in a road-side fast-food center. "Though we investigated the case in various angles, our investigation revealed that the boy is not involved in the crime," he added.
Another senior police officer said that the victim liked the boy and she gifted him a wrist-watch on the day of incident. However, the boy refused to accept the gift and he narrated the matter to the teacher. The girl was admonished by the teacher in front of her mother on that day. In the evening, the girl suffered burn injuries.
The police shifted the body of the girl to the mortuary at KG Hospital for autopsy. The police are suspecting that the girl’s death may spark a protest on Sunday.
