Man held in Odisha girl burning case

A day after a 14-year-old girl was set on fire by two people in Odisha's Kendrapada district, police Monday arrested one of the accused.

"We arrested Pradip Das from Paradip area of neighbouring Jagatsinghpur district. He is the main accused in the case. Efforts are on to nab the other man," inspector in-charge of the local police station Abhinab Dalua told IANS.

The girl was set on fire Sunday at Kharinashi village, about 150 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.

According to Dalua, Pradip Das wanted to marry the elder sister of the victim. He was enraged when the family solemnised her marriage with someone else and, in an act of vengeance, set her young sister on fire.

Das, a resident of the same village as the girl, allegedly began threatening the family of the woman and her in-laws. The village committee was scheduled to hold a meeting Wednesday to take action against him.

On Sunday, Das, along with one of his friends, invited the younger sister of the woman to his house, dragged her in, and poured kerosene on her before setting her ablaze.

The teenager, a student of Class 7, was shifted to Sriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College Hospital in Cuttack after her condition deteriorated. Dalua said the victim had suffered 70 percent burn injuries.