Day after Wardha lecturer set ablaze, locals demand exemplary punishment for stalker

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced that the state government would bear entire expenses of the victim's treatment.




A day after a 24-year-old lecturer was set on fire by a stalker in Maharashtra’s Wardha district, public anger poured out on the streets of Hingangat demanding exemplary punishment for the accused.

Many girls students from the college in Hingangat, where the woman works as a part-time teacher, called for setting the accused on fire to avenge his dastardly act.

On Monday morning, accused Vikesh Nagrale accosted the woman near a bus stop in Hinganghat. He doused her with petrol before setting her on fire.

She sustained 40 per cent burns in the incident and is undergoing treatment at Nagpur’s Orange City Hospital. The Orange City Hospital Tuesday issued a bulletin stating that her condition remains “very critical”, adding that she has been put on oxygen since she has been experiencing an acute respiratory problem.

The police have secured Nagrale’s custody till February 8. “An all-party morcha was organised in the town today but it passed off peacefully,” Hinganghat police inspector S M Bandiwar said.

While Hinganghat town observed an all-party bandh on Tuesday, ripples were also felt at the neighbouring Samudrpur town that also observed a bandh.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced that the state government would bear entire expenses of the victim’s treatment and also dispatched a team of specialist doctors from Mumbai along with Home Minister Anil Deshmukh for her treatment.

Victim’s father told The Indian Express that “It all started about three months back when Nagrale tried to talk to her in a bus on her way back from Hinganghat to her village about 15 kms away. She called me from there to complaint about it. I asked her to give the phone to Nagrale. I asked him what was his problem and why was he bothering my daughter. He regretted and said he won’t to it again. After that, once I happened to meet him while going to my farm and said I will complain to the police if he won’t stop harassing my daughter. He assured me that he wouldn’t. I also thought he would not do it again. But, on Monday, he committed this heinous act. ”

He said that the matter should be heard in a fast track court and demanded that the accused should be hanged as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Hinganghat BJP MLA Samir Kunawar and State Minister for Shorts and Youth Affairs Sunil Kedar visited the hospital and assured all help to the family of the victim.

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