Two held for setting tribal woman on fire in MP

Guna: Two of the three accused have been arrested in the case of allegedly setting a tribal woman on fire in Guna district of MP, over a land dispute. The woman is battling for life with severe burn injuries, after the incident took place on Saturday afternoon in Dhanoria village under Bamori police station limits, over 200 km from the state capital Bhopal, Guna Superintendent of Police Pankaj Shrivastava said, adding that the woman's condition is critical.

A video, purportedly shot by the accused, went viral on social media platforms, wherein the charred woman was seen crying in pain, with smoke all around her.

The person shooting the video was heard saying the woman had torched herself, and let us shoot the video.

The woman's husband, Arjun Saharia, complained to police that when he reached his farm on Saturday afternoon, he found his wife, Rampyari Bai, lying there with severe burn injuries.

When the man enquired, his wife told him that she was set on fire by three persons, identified as Pratap, Shyam Kirar and Hanumat, the official said quoting the complainant.

The woman was referred to a hospital in Bhopal further treatment as her condition was critical, he said.

Two of the accused were arrested, while search was on for the third person, who is absconding, the official said.

The complainant told the police that the accused had forcibly usurped his land, which was freed by the local administration in May this year and handed over to him, he said.Meanwhile, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday hit out at the BJP government, saying it is shameful that a tribal woman is burnt in a state ruled by the party that has fielded a tribal in the July 18 presidential poll.

"A party that puts up Droupadi Murmu for the presidential election allows such a terrible atrocity on a tribal woman. Shameful!," Ramesh said on Twitter.