A schoolgirl set ablaze by a rejected lover finally died from her injuries on Friday, after fighting for her life for a week at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
Ankhi Chowdhury, 15, had been admitted to the burn and plastic surgery unit of DMCH on October 24 with burns covering 96% of her body. She was set ablaze allegedly after she declined a relationship proposal made by a local youth named Uzzal. “Uzzal, along with two of his cohorts, poured kerosene all over her body while she was asleep and set her on fire,” said Nihar Bishwas, a brother-in-law of Ankhi.
“Uzzal resided in the neighbouring village and had been stalking and disturbing Ankhi for the past several months. He was clearly infuriated by her constant refusal and finally, about a week ago, set her ablaze after sneaking in their house in the darkness,” said Nihar.
Ankhi was first rushed to the Gopalganj general hospital and then to DMCH. Police arrested Uzzal the day after the incident but Ankhi, a student of class ten, died around 11:30pm on Thursday. She was the daughter of farmer Makhan Lal Chowdhury and Gitali Chowdhury at the Andarkota village in Gopalganj Sadar upazila.