Hyderabad: A 40-year-old married man set a woman on fire for refusing to marry him and later attempted to commit suicide. The woman succumbed to her burn injuries at a city hospital while her sister-in-law, who too suffered injuries, and the accused are undergoing treatment.

Ibrahim, a resident of Barkas in Hyderabad, is married and has two children, but he wanted to marry Shabana Begum. The two first met on Facebook a year ago. Shabana and her family rejected the proposal once they got to know about Ibrahim’s family.
 
On Saturday morning, Ibrahim reached Kumarwadi, Tappachabutra in Hyderabad, poured petrol on Shabana and her sister-in-law Hazeena Begum, who came to Shabana’s rescue. Hearing the screams from the women, the neighbours rushed to douse the fire.

Later, he also set himself on fire to commit suicide. All three suffered life-threatening burns and were immediately rushed to Osmania Hospital.
 
Shabana suffered 100% burn injuries and died in the evening, while her sister-in-law sustained 65% burns. Ibrahim suffered 85% burns, according to the doctors.

Osmania Hospital chief, Dr Nagendar said, “The chances of his survival are less. All three have suffered over 30% burns; this brings down their chances of survival.”

Shabana’s elder sister said, “Ibrahim first got introduced to Shaheen on Facebook a year ago. He came with a marriage proposal, we initially accepted it, but then we rejected it after we found out that he was married and had two children. We had called people and had even talked to him many times, but the man was adamant about marrying her.”