In a shocking incident, a woman from Chennai, who set herself ablaze in front of a police station in Hyderabad after lodging a cheating complaint against her live-in partner on Tuesday, succumbed to injuries at a hospital on Wednesday, police said.
S. Lokeswari (37), who had suffered 60 per cent burns, died in the government-run Osmania Hospital. The woman had set herself afire in front of the Punjagutta police station in the heart of the city on Tuesday evening after lodging a cheating complaint against her partner Praveen Kumar. After lodging the complaint, she came out of the building, doused herself with petrol and set herself ablaze. The policemen present there doused the fire and rushed her to a hospital.
Following Lokeshwari”s death, police booked a case against Kumar for abetting the suicide. Preliminary investigations by the police revealed that the woman was in a live-in relationship with Praveen Kumar after the death of her husband.Lokeshwari, who hailed from Chennai, had come into contact with Kumar, an employee at a jewellery shop in Hyderabad, through a matrimony site in 2012. They started living together in Hyderabad.
Kumar had helped Lokeshwari get a job in the same shop. However, differences cropped up between the two. Kumar had lodged a police complaint against her in 2014 for alleged theft of gold ornaments. She was arrested and sent to jail. After release from the jail, Lokeshwari apologised to Kumar. He offered to pay Rs 7.50 lakh as compensation for the live-in relationship and she had agreed to the same. Lokeshwari, who had moved to Chennai and was living with her mother, came to Hyderabad on Friday along with her friend Kannan to take the money from Kumar. He, however, kept delaying the payment and later switched off his mobile phone.
She, along with her friend Kannan came to the Punjagutta police station and gave a written complaint against Kumar. Even as Kannan was sitting with a police officer, Lokeshwari came out and set herself ablaze.
