UP: Dalit girl set on fire for refusing to give youth her phone number

The girl, who is admitted at Shiv Prasad Gupta Hospital, is critical with 80 per cent burns. The accused, Mohammad Shafi (19), was sent to jail Wednesday.

“I first went to Varanasi to meet the victim. She has suffered around 80 per cent burn injuries, but she was able to narrate to me the whole incident. Later, I met her mother in Azamgarh,” Lal told The Indian Express.

According to the police, the accused and the girl were friends and used to talk over phone. However, she stopped talking to him recently. “On Monday, Shafi had gone to the girl’s house to ask for her new number. When she refused…the youth assaulted her and then set her on fire,” said Azamgarh Sadar circle officer Akmal Khan.