Bihar: Even as the Centre has been emphasising on ‘Beti Padao, Beti Bachao’, in a tragic incident a teenager’s quest for higher education proved out to be fatal for her.
Khushboo Kumari, a 16-year-old girl was allegedly set ablaze by her father and stepmother, for refusing to marry an older man.
While her battle for education had ended with the tragic incident on February 3, her battle for life ended on February 5, at Patna Medical College Hospital on February 5.
Victim’s older brother Amrit Raj, in an FIR alleged that his father Sunil Thakur and stepmother Poonam Devi and some other relatives burnt Khushboo, who lived in Purani Bazar under Masaurhi police station about 35 km from Patna.
An academically bright student of Class XII at a local school, police say, Khushboo had died of burn injuries. However, they are still waiting for the post mortem report.
In his complaint, Amrit Raj said his sister wanted to pursue higher education but her father and stepmother had fixed her marriage two months ago with a much older person from Naubatpur. When the victim came to know about the plan, she refused to marry which left her parents infuriated, leading to the gruesome act of burning her to death on February 3.
All the accused are, however, absconding.
