Gurgaon: A 23-year-old woman suffered severe burns after hot water was poured on her, allegedly by a couple, after she refused to marry a man — who is 65 years old.According to her allegations, the couple, her neighbours, had “fixed a deal” of Rs 3 lakh to marry her to the man. No FIR has been registered as yet. The incident took place on Aug 16 while Preeti — a resident of Tika Tola Sahapur village in Bihar’s Madhepura district — was asleep at her house in Faridabad’s Qureshipur area.She was then locked inside a room for three days without medical treatment. On Wednesday, three days later, her maternal uncle (mausa) Rahul, accompanied by police, got the room opened and rescued her. Rahul lives with his family around one km from Preeti’s house. She was taken to BK Hospital and later referred to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, where she is in critical condition.“They should be hanged. They showed no mercy and locked me inside a room and didn’t call a doctor even when I was in severe burn pain. I kept pleading but they didn’t take me to the hospital and kept me captive. It was my uncle who rescued me along with the cops. They have burnt half of the body and should be given stringent punishment. The couple along with their three children were at home but no one helped me,” Preeti alleged while talking to the media on Thursday.A police officer at Dhauj police station said police would go to the hospital to record her statement, adding further action would be taken after that. Police are investigating the allegations against the couple: Dharmendra, a labourer, and Lalita.“Despite repeated requests, the couple did not allow us to meet Preeti and thus I had to call at the 112 helpline. They kept her captive for three days and did not give her any medicine or treatment despite their inhuman act. They should be behind bars,” Rahul said.Rahul said she married Rohit, a resident of Qureshipur, around two years ago. Preeti separated from her husband, who works at a private company, around two months ago.Rahul told police that Dharmendra and Lalita — who live opposite Preeti’s house — used to visit her. Around two months ago, the couple took Preeti with them on the pretext of adopting her as their daughter and arranging her marriage from their home.After Preeti came to know about the deal, she objected to the proposed marriage, following which disputes started between her and the couple.It was alleged that at around 4am on Aug 16, while Preeti was asleep, hot water was poured on her. She suffered burns to her private parts and several other parts of her body. She alleged that her mobile phone was also taken away after the incident.Preeti alleged that she was not allowed to leave the room for treatment and was kept locked inside. Rahul said a neighbour became suspicious and called him on Aug 19 to inform him about the situation. Rahul reached Qureshipur but the door was not opened. He later returned to the spot with police in the evening. With police assistance, the lock of the room was broken open and Preeti was rescued.She was taken to BK govt Hospital, where she received initial treatment. Doctors referred her to Safdarjung Hospital. She was admitted to the ICU, according to the information provided to police.
