Jilted lover sets himself, woman ablaze inside college in India

A young man set ablaze a woman and himself inside a medical college in southern India state of Kerala, police said Thursday.

The incident took place inside a medical college on Wednesday in Kottayam district, about 150 km north of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala.

"Yesterday a young man at a medical college barged inside a lecture room and splashed petrol on 21-year-old woman sitting there along with her classmates. The man threw some of petrol on himself and later set the woman on fire using his cigarette lighter," a police official said. "Though the woman tried to escape but the man hold her forcibly and both of them suffered critical burn injuries."

Police officials quoting eyewitnesses said the incident triggered panic following which some people sitting inside classroom escaped, while as two tried to douse the flame and save the woman but suffered burn injuries.

"Both man and woman had suffered more than 70 per cent burn injuries and succumbed in the hospital in the evening. However, the two classmates who suffered burn injuries while trying to douse flames on their batchmate are undergoing treatment," the police official said.

Police have identified the woman as K Lakshmi, 21, a physiotherapy student at School of Medical Education, Kottayam and and S Adarsh, 26, an alumni of the college.

Reports said there were lesser number of students in the lecture hall in wake of some strike in the college.

Local media reports said the woman has turned down his proposal, after which young man felt jilted and took out the extreme step. Endit