UP couple, 18 & 19, set on fire, dies; Dalit boy’s mom says son victim of honour killing, FIR filed

Agra: Days after the death of an 18-year-old girl in UP’s Firozabad district, her Dalit friend, 19, also succumbed to critical burn injuries at a private hospital in Agra late on Monday. The boy’s mother had accused the girl’s kin of setting the young couple on fire as they were opposed to their inter-caste affair.

Based on a complaint by the boy’s mother, police on Tuesday registered an FIR under BNS sections 103 (1) (murder), 109 (1) (attempt to murder) along with sections of the SC/ST Act against the girl’s mother and two uncles in the city’s Shikohabad area. The complainant told cops that “her son is a victim of honour killing”.

On June 5, police rushed the couple -- Khushi Sharma (18) and Arun Kumar Katheria (19) -- with critical burns to Firozabad hospital and from there to Agra’s SN Medical College. The incident took place in Shikohabad’s Gadhaiya locality. Arun didn’t pursue his studies after Class 12 and used to work as a plumber in Noida. Khushi was a BA second-year student.

Khushi’s father had died a few years ago, and she was staying with her mother, Mamta Sharma, and younger brother in Mainpuri for the past two weeks. Notably, her mother’s parental home is in Mainpuri. On the morning of June 5, Khushi reached her house in Shikohabad to collect clothes, and went missing.

Later that evening, police received an alert. In her police complaint, Suman Devi stated that Mamta along with her brothers, Ashish Kumar Sharma and Avneesh Kumar Sharma, had called her Noida-based son from Khushi’s mobile phone. After he arrived, they locked the two in a room, thrashed them and poured petrol, setting them ablaze. The girl died on Saturday.

DSP Amreesh Kumar, who is investigating the case, said, “An FIR has been registered. We’re in contact with the boy’s family and will record more statements to take the case forward.” Arun’s statement had been recorded at Agra hospital by a magistrate-rank officer and it will be part of the probe, police said, without divulging the “declaration” details.