A 35-year-old businessman has been arrested in Gurugram for allegedly setting his 23-year-old partner on fire following a dispute over his marital status. The woman succumbed to severe burn injuries on June 27, eight days after the incident, while undergoing treatment at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.
According to police, the accused, a gold shop owner from Haryana’s Jhajjar district, had been in a relationship with the victim for nearly one-and-a-half years. Investigators said tensions arose after the woman discovered that he was already married, leading to frequent arguments.
Police said the couple argued at the accused’s shop on June 18 before checking into a flat on Sohna Road. The following morning, another altercation allegedly broke out, during which the man is accused of setting the woman on fire. He later took her to a private hospital, from where she was referred to Safdarjung Hospital due to the severity of her injuries.
Initially, the victim and her mother declined to file a complaint when police first visited the hospital. However, after the woman’s death, her cousin approached investigators, claiming she had identified the accused as the person responsible and alleged that he had threatened to kill her and her family if she disclosed the incident.
Police have since arrested the accused and booked him under Section 103 (Murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Investigators have recovered the kerosene bottle allegedly used in the crime and seized the accused’s mobile phone for forensic examination.
The accused has been remanded to police custody for further questioning as investigators continue to examine evidence and reconstruct the sequence of events.
