The victim, Sonam
Kanpur: A 30-year-old woman was allegedly tied to a chair, doused with petrol and set on fire by her husband following a dispute in Jagatpur village of Kannauj on Thursday morning. The incident took place around 7 am. Sonam and Sukhbir had met while working for private companies in Hisar, Haryana, and married around 11 years ago, according to villagers.
The accused, Sukhbir, allegedly fled with the couple’s two children after the incident but was later arrested, police said. The youth later consumed poison but recovered after treatment at a village clinic, according to villagers. Police recovered Sonam ’s severely burnt body from the house in the Sikandarpur police outpost area and sent it for post-mortem examination. Her two children, who had left with the accused, were later handed over to the family. Residents alerted police and the fire department after seeing flames rising from the house. Fire personnel brought the blaze under control after about one-and-a-half hours and found Sonam’s charred body inside. They had two children, a seven-year-old son and a five-year-old daughter. Sukhbir left the house and returned about half an hour later carrying petrol in a bottle. He allegedly tied Sonam to a chair, poured petrol on her and set her on fire before fleeing with the children.
They had arrived in the village during the Diwali holidays two days before the incident and continued arguing over her alleged conversations with a local youth. The dispute had earlier reached the Sikandarpur police outpost, and a village panchayat had persuaded the couple to stay together. The couple allegedly quarrelled again on Thursday morning.