A man in Bihar wanted to marry his girlfriend, but his second wife objected. Angered by this, he doused her in petrol, released LPG from a cylinder, and set her ablaze, officials said on Saturday.
Vikas Kumar, from a village in Nalanda district, had married Sunita Devi (25) five years ago. Sunita's father said it was only after the wedding that they realised Kumar had already been married once and had not divorced his first wife.
Kumar's family managed to convince Sunita to live with them, and she had two children, both of whom died shortly after they were born. Kumar then began talking about marrying his girlfriend and this led to frequent arguments between him and Sunita, who then left to live with her parents.
Before the Durga Puja festival, which began last month, Kumar went to Sunita's house and asked her to return with him.
Sunita's brother said they received a call from her around 1 am on Saturday, saying Kumar had thrown petrol on her and locked her in the courtyard. He had then opened the valves on the cooking gas stove and thrown a lit matchstick. Sunita told them she would not survive, an official said, adding her phone was switched off after that.
By the time the family reached the village, Kumar and his family were planning to cremate Sunita's body. They fled when they saw Sunita's family approaching.
"A team reached the spot and started an investigation. A forensic team has collected samples. The body has been handed over to the woman's family after a postmortem and her in-laws are on the run," said Station House Officer Anil Kumar Pandey.
(With inputs from Ravi Ranjan)
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