In Bihar, a case has come to light where a man poured petrol on a woman for trying to end the relationship. The woman is married and has three children. The accused is her paramour.
The woman is from the Hindu community, while the man is from Muslim community.
The woman has survived the incident. Police have arrested the accused for attempt to murder, among other charges.
The incident has been reported from Devpura Parsa village of Motihari district in East Champaran.
The victim is Archana Kushwaha, 25. Accused is Danish Alam, 28.
Archana’s husband Randhir Kumar lives in distant Chennai, where he works as a daily labourer and sends money home.
On 15 December 2022, Danish Alam barged into Archna’s house and set her on fire. After his arrest, an audio recording has to light where Danish is threatening Archana with consequences for not talking to him.
The case
A first information report (FIR) in the case was filed at Kalyanpur police station on 15 December, the day of the crime (number 342/2022). The complainant was Archana Kumari herself.
Based on the complaint, the police booked Danish under IPC sections 307, 341, 323, 324, 328, 354B, 504 and 506.
Archana’s statement says that she was sleeping when Danish barged into her house with a can of petrol. He tried to rape her. When she resisted, he poured petrol on her and, using a burning wooden log from the earthen stove, set her on fire. When she raised an alarm, neighbours and relatives gathered and chased him away.
What media reports say
As per this report by Dainik Jagran, Archana came in contact with Danish through a wrong number. He dialled her saying it was by mistake, but got talking with her. They were in a relationship for months, but Archana had begun to distance from him of late as her family had found out about it.
Angered by this, Danish barged into her house with a can of petrol.
Archana was taken to the government district hospital by local residents. The report says she is stable.
A ground report on the case by a local reporter can be watched here.
Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar published an audio conversation between Archana and Danish, which is as follows (translated from Hindi):
Danish: Why are you not taking my calls?
Archana: I want to sleep, please cut the call (Danish continues to talk)
Danish: (Using foul language) You don’t care about me
Archana: Only god knows the truth
Danish: Your sister beat me with slippers. I will kill her, and I will also kill your husband and father-in-law. Either you get me killed or I will kill everyone
Archana: I cannot kill an aunt. How can I get you killed?
Danish: I have decided to kill you and If I fail, I will not be a son to my father. I was calling you to tell you this. You don’t need me anymore
(The call gets disconnected)
The victim, however, gave a different version to the media, which can be watched here.
She said, “A man called me from a wrong number. He said he wanted to talk to me. He said he will kill my family members and started blackmailing me. I gave him five thousand rupees. Then he demanded ten thousand. When I refused, he said he will kill me, my husband, and my father-in-law. When I refused he came home from nowhere.”
What the police told Rashtra Jyoti
The police station in-charge, Rohit Kumar, told Rashtra Jyoti that the police arrested Danish from the spot. He is under police custody and further investigation is on.
He said the woman was in a relationship with Danish for the past one-and-a-half years.
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