Madhya Pradesh: Tribal woman battles for life after being set ablaze in Guna, 2 arrested

A video, purportedly shot by the accused, went viral on social media platforms, wherein the charred tribal woman was seen crying in pain, with smoke all around her.

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Guna: A tribal woman was battling for life with severe burn injuries after three persons allegedly set her on fire over a land dispute in Madhya Pradesh's Guna district, police said on Sunday. The incident took place on Saturday afternoon in Dhanoria village under Bamori police station limits, over 200 km from the state capital Bhopal, Guna Superintendent of Police Pankaj Shrivastava said, adding the woman's condition was critical. Two of the accused have been arrested so far, he said.

A video, purportedly shot by the accused, went viral on social media platforms, wherein the charred woman was seen crying in pain, with smoke all around her. The person shooting the video was heard saying the woman had torched herself, and "let us shoot the video".

The woman's husband, Arjun Saharia, complained to police that when he reached his farm on Saturday afternoon, he found his wife, Rampyari Bai, lying there with severe burn injuries.

When the man enquired, his wife told him that she was set on fire by three persons, identified as Pratap, Shyam Kirar and Hanumat, the official said quoting the complainant.

The woman was referred to a hospital in Bhopal for further treatment as her condition was critical, he said. Two of the accused were arrested, while search was on for the third person, who is absconding, the official said. The complainant told the police that the accused had forcibly usurped his land, which was freed by the local administration in May this year and handed over to him, he said.