Woman’s death: BJP and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha trade charges

Vibha Sharma

New Delhi, August 29

Even as suspense continues over the fate of Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, politics has erupted over the death of a young woman allegedly set on fire by a man in the Dumka district.

While opposition BJP claimed women are “not safe” in Jharkhand, the ruling JMM accused it of doing “communal politics” over the heinous incident.

Soren today promised “strictest of punishments” to the man who set a 19-year-old woman on fire because she rejected his romantic advances. Calling the horrific incident “heart-wrenching”, the Jharkhand CM said people who commit such crimes should not be forgiven.

“A lot of evil acts are being seen in society. This incident is heart-wrenching. The law is taking its course, the accused has been arrested. It is our effort to see that he is punished at the earliest.

“Such people should not be forgiven. They should be given the strictest of punishments. Laws should be brought in to further strengthen the existing laws for such incidents,” said Soren who announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of the woman set ablaze by her alleged stalker identified as Shahrukh.

Amid protests by Hindu right wing groups, politics has erupted with the BJP taking on Soren, facing disqualification from the Assembly under the Representation of the People Act, 1951.

State party president Deepak Prakash said “Dumka’s heinous incident proves that women are not safe under the Hemant Soren government”.

Senior leaders, including Raghubar Das and Babulal Marandi, also demanded that the person involved in the crime be punished through trial by a fast-track court, compensation of Rs 1 crore and a job to the next of kin of the victim.

Condemning the incident, JMM spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said “BJP should refrain from doing communal politics over it. The government also wants punishment through trial in the fast track court”.

The accused, identified as Shahrukh, allegedly poured petrol on the woman from outside the window of her room while she was sleeping and set her on fire, as per reports.