Man, woman dead after being set ablaze in Rajasthan's Jaipur over suspicion of affair, family feud

Jaipur, Dec 3 (PTI) Set ablaze on suspicion that they were having an affair, Soni Gurjar and Kailash Gurjar have died of their grievous burn injuries in a Jaipur hospital, one a widow and mother of two and the other married with two children.

While Soni, 30, breathed her last early Wednesday, Kailash, 25, passed away on Monday night, three days after they were doused with petrol and set on fire allegedly by the woman's uncle-in-law, Birdichand Gurjar (57) and brother-in-law, Ganesh Gurjar (41).

Police said there was also an old enmity due to the love marriage between a boy from Ganesh Gurjar's family and a girl from Kailash Gurjar's family against their wills.

Police said that the woman's husband died six years ago, and was the mother of a son (10) and a daughter (7).

Soni's in-laws had a suspicion that she was having a love affair with Kailash, and were waiting for an opportunity to catch them together, the police said.

On the night of the incident, Soni slipped from her home to meet Kailash, unaware that suspicion had already stirred her family. Driven by outrage over the alleged affair that threatened their honour, the accused silently followed her.

Kailash waited on his makeshift machan in his agricultural land. Soni reached there and climbed up to join him. Suddenly, Birdichand and Ganesh caught them. They thrashed Kailash and Soni and tied them helplessly to the machan.

The accused poured petrol on them. A match flickered and flames erupted, devouring the platform and the duo in a blaze.

Hearing their cries, locals rushed to the spot and doused the flames.

They rushed them to a local community health centre, from there they were rushed to SMS hospital in Jaipur in a critical condition.

Both victims, named Birdichand and Ganesh, in their statement, following which the two were arrested.

Kailash's body was handed over to family members on Tuesday. His relatives held a brief protest yesterday, demanding the arrest of all the accused involved in the case.

However, they were later pacified by the police, who assured them that no accused would be spared. PTI SDA APL