Houseowner arrested in woman burning incident

A woman junior engineer, engaged in MGNREGA work in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, was burnt alive by unidentified persons at her home, the police said today.

The victim, aged 35-40, working as junior engineer in MGNREGA programme at Moraul block of Muzaffarpur, was burnt alive in a rented place in Bajrang Vihar colony under Ahiapur police station, Senior Superintendent of Police Vivek Kumar said.

The SSP said that houseowner Vijay Gupta was arrested in connection with the incident on the basis of two letters purportedly written by the victim referring his name.

The two letters found on the spot, which the victim's family claimed were written by her, pointed fingers at Vijay Gupta. They have been sent to Patna for forensic test, the SSP said.
 

The media reports said that the woman, mother of two children, had been tied with a chair and burnt alive when she was alone suspectedly on Sunday night, a version not, however, corroborated by the SSP.

The SSP said the spot inspection by the police did not find any evidence of this. The police found a wooden charpoy whose one pillar was found burnt, the SSP said.

The incident is suspected to have taken place on Sunday night and the crime came to light after neighbours cried foul over stench coming out of the house.