JAISALMER: A husband allegedly poured petrol on his wife and set her ablaze while she was sleeping late on Sunday in Ranisar Kachchi Basti, Jaisalmer, under the jurisdiction of Kotwali Police Station.Following the incident, the husband and his family members took the woman to hospital in a critical condition with around 90 per cent burns.She was subsequently referred to Jodhpur, where she succumbed to her injuries early Tuesday morning during treatment. The husband told police that his wife had set herself on fire.However, police investigation revealed that the husband and wife had been sleeping in the open and only their bedding had caught fire. Their two children were sleeping with their grandparents.Police have registered a murder case and detained the husband for questioning. The role of other accused persons is also being investigated.The woman’s parental family has alleged that she had been harassed for dowry ever since her marriage.SHO Surjaram Jakhar said that at around 1am late Sunday night, Kotwali Police received information from Jawahir Hospital that Kamla, a resident of Ranisar Kachchi Basti in Jaisalmer city, had been brought to the hospital with 90 per cent burns.After the incident, her husband Prakash Od, brother-in-law and parents-in-law took her to the hospital. The husband allegedly tried to mislead police by claiming that his wife had set herself on fire. As her condition was critical, doctors immediately referred her to Jodhpur.She died early Tuesday morning while undergoing treatment at Mahatma Gandhi Hospital.He said that after police became suspicious of the version given by the in-laws, a police team reached the spot and collected evidence.The investigation found that the husband and wife had been sleeping outside the house in the open and only their bedding had been burnt. The accused husband was also sleeping alongside the woman.He said that if the claim that the woman had set herself on fire were true, both of them would have sustained burns. At the time of the incident, their two children, aged four years and one-and-a-half years, were sleeping with their grandparents.SHO Surjaram Jakhar said that Kamla’s family members arrived on Monday.Her brother Bhomaram, a resident of Ramdevra, filed a report at Kotwali Police Station, stating that Kamla had been married nine years ago. The accused husband, Prakash, drives a tractor and taxi. He allegedly began demanding dowry after the marriage and used to assault Kamla.The deceased woman’s brother alleged that Prakash himself poured petrol on Kamla and burnt her alive, and that her parents-in-law and brother-in-law were also involved in the alleged conspiracy. Police have registered a murder case and detained accused husband Prakash for questioning.
