A 31-year-old man allegedly set a woman on fire because she fought off his attempt to rape her in his room. The woman, Reena Koli, succumbed to her injuries last week in a hospital in Kota in India's northern Rajasthan state.
The accused, Rambharan Yadav, tried to rape her in a building where he and Koli were staying as tenants. Yadav, a laborer from Chitrakoot district in Uttar Pradesh state, had called Koli to his room and tried to force himsedlf on her on Friday, but Koli fought him off.
Enraged, Yadav poured kerosene over her and set her on fire, The Times of India reported. Koli was rushed to a local community health center but she died on the same night. In her last statement to the police, she said that Yadav had doused her with kerosene and set her on fire.
Yadav, who had fled, was arrested on Sunday from Kawai railway station in Rajasthan.
There has been an increase in the number of rape cases reported in India.
Last week, another such incident shocked the nation when a man brutally raped a minor and pushed her into a well in the state of Madhya Pradesh.
The girl survived as the well was dry and is undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
In another case, a minor was raped by the cousin of her father, who lured the 9-year-old to his home. He then washed the blood stains from her clothes.
