In a love story that culminated in a shocking tragedy, a 22-year-old girl succumbed to severe burn wounds hours after her boyfriend threw acid on her, doused her with petrol, set her on fire and left her abandoned on the roadside at Yellamb Ghat near Beed town in Marathwada region of the state on Sunday morning.
After having battled for life for more than 15-long hours, the victim girl Savitra D. Ankulkar died at the Beed Civil Hospital, where she had been rushed to by the police on Saturday.
In a related development, teams of police tasked to hunt down the absconding accused – identified as one Avinash R. Rajure (25) – tracked him down to Nanded, a neighbouring district town and arrested him on Sunday evening.
The investigations have revealed that after promising her that he would take Savita to her as his native village of Shelgaon village in Nanded district for Diwali, Avinash set out on a motorbike along with her from Pune to Shelgaon late on Friday night. The two had stayed as live-partners in Pune before the accused offered to take her home for Diwali.
However, the accused stopped the vehicle at an isolated place near Yellamb Ghat en route at around 4 am and attacked her with acid and petrol.
“First, the accused tried to strangle her. After she resisted the attempt, the accused threw acid from a bottle that he was carrying. She screamed for help. No help was forthcoming. The accused went further, removed petrol from his motorbike, doused her with it and set her on fire. Later, he pushed the burning victim girl into a ditch and fled the scene,” Investigating Officer (IO) from Neknur Police Station Laxman Kendre said.
According to the IO, a shepherd tending to his flock in the nearby field alerted the police at 2 pm on Saturday. “We reached the spot quickly and rushed the victim girl to the Beed Civil Hospital,” Kendre said.
The victim, who had sustained 50 per cent burns, succumbed to the wounds on Sunday morning.
The police have not established yet as to what was the motive behind what look like a pre-meditated murder.