Man Attacks Woman With Knife, Then Sets Her On Fire In Bihar

The victim’s mother, slumped over her daughter’s body

He slashed hard at her neck and then kept stabbing her until she died. Not done yet, he threw petrol on the woman and set her on fire, said police. She was 29.

The disturbing incident, which took place in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was reported from Katihar in eastern Bihar.

It being a Tuesday and a day of her fast, Yashoda Devi, a teacher, having performed her puja, set off for school, Pakadia Prathmik Vidyalaya, said her family.

“The victim was on way to her school at around 5:30 am. She was repeatedly attacked with a knife. Having killed her, the man threw petrol on her and set her on fire,” said Abhijit Kumar Singh, Sadar Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Katihar.

“The attacker and the victim were in a relationship in the past. Post her marriage, the relationship between the two came up before a local panchayat,” the police officer added.

Hulchul Kumar, the accused, is on the run, the police added. Earlier, he had attacked the victim’s husband, Parmesh Rai, in February.  

“She was my wife. The same man had attacked me in February (points to the mark on his face). Today is Tuesday, her day of fasting. After her morning prayers, she set off for school. He was hiding around the corner. He slashed at her neck. With her falling down, he again attacked her and kept at it until she died. Then he threw petrol on her and set her on fire,” said Parmesh Rai, her husband, with tears streaming down his face.

A picture from the accident site showed the badly burnt woman, face down on the ground, the yellow of her saree merging into a black (of charred flesh) and red (of blood) with her husband sitting a few feet away, looking on.

In another picture, the victim’s mother, slumped over her daughter’s body, pulls up the shroud to cover her face. Scores of women and village people crowd around her. A collective cry goes up.