Published Jul 07, 2022 | 1:37 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 23, 2022 | 6:16 PM
The police said Ashfaq, on learning that the woman he loved was getting married to someone else, set himself ablaze at the wedding venue. (Creative Commons)
A 19-year-old boy, who had allegedly set himself ablaze at a marriage hall in Hyderabad’s Langar Houz on 30 June after failing to woo a woman, succumbed to his injuries during treatment at the Osmania General Hospital on the morning of Tuesday, 6 July.
The Hyderabad Police have identified the victim as Ashfaq Shaikh, a resident of Rajendranagar and a construction worker by profession.
“Shaikh was in love with a woman in his colony and wanted to marry her,” said a senior police officer from the Hyderabad City West Zone Police.
“He had approached the woman’s family for their marriage,” he added.
The officer said the woman’s family rejected his proposal and fixed her marriage with another man.
Shaikh, on learning that the woman was to get married at a wedding hall near the PVNR expressway, is said to have purchased a bottle of petrol and rushed to the wedding venue on 30 June.
“In full public view, Shaikh set himself ablaze after pouring petrol on himself,” said the officer.
A police officer part of the investigating team told reporters that people present at the marriage hall doused the fire and alerted the cops.
“With help of locals, we rushed the youth to the Osmania General Hospital for medical attention,” he explained.
The doctors informed the cops that Shaikh had sustained more than 40 percent burns on his body, and that his condition was critical.
Ashfaq, in his statement to the police, said he set himself ablaze because he was depressed since learning that the woman he loved was getting married.
The Langar Houz Police Station’s Station House Officer K Srinivas told South First, “We initially registered a case under IPC Section 309 — attempt to commit suicide — but altered it to Section 174 of the CrPC — police to inquire and report on suicide — after his death.”
