Tiruppur: A 22-year-old G Lokesh, who set ablaze his girlfriend to death as she was pestering him to get married to, was arrested in Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur, police said Friday. The deceased identified as Pooja, (19), had migrated to Tiruppur from Mumbai, and was working at Palladam town.
On Thursday evening, the girl was seen running on the main road with her entire body covered in flames in Rayarpalayam of Palladam town. Locals doused the fire and rushed her to the hospital besides alerting the police personnel. The girl was admitted to the government hospital in Palladam and was referred to Coimbatore government hospital where she died not responding to the treatment.
In her dying declaration, the girl recounted the turn of events which led to her being set on fire. It is learnt the girl and Lokesh were in a relationship for almost two years. "I had called Lokesh to meet me on Thursday. He came. We were discussing about our future when he attacked me," police quoted the victim as saying.
"The girl died on Thursday morning. Based on her declaration, we have altered the sections of the Indian Penal Code in the original FIR to include the murder charges. We have also arrested Lokesh and produced him before the jurisdiction court which had remanded him to judicial custody," said a police official who is privy to the investigation.
Police said Lokesh who attempted to flee at the time of the incident swooned riding pillion on a friend's getaway motorcycle. The accused suffered minor injuries and was admitted to the government hospital and discharged on Thursday morning hours before his arrest.
The Mumbai-born girl had none to take care of her after both her parents passed away. She had moved in with one of her family friend Ibrahim here at Rayarpalayam in Palladam town. She had been going to work in a garments manufacturing company. She met Lokesh at her work place and became frieds with before falling in love.
