Teenage Hindu girl was sleeping at her house in India when she was doused in gasoline and set ablaze by her claimed Muslim stalker.
Ankita Singh, 19, passed away on Sunday at a hospital in Ranchi, in the eastern state of Jharkhand, from her serious burn wounds, five days after Shahrukh Hussain is accused of setting her on fire.
After Shahrukh, a Muslim, reportedly sought to marry Ankita and force her to convert from Hinduism to Islam in order to carry out “love jihad,” there have been demonstrations throughout the state as a result of her passing.
Sanjeev Singh, Ankita’s upset father, said: “Shahrukh used to threaten her—marry me, join Islam, or else I’ll make your life miserable.”
Shahrukh reportedly hounded Ankita over the phone for days after she turned down his advances, and the night before he lit her on fire, he claimed threatened to murder her if she did not see him.
Ankita was sleeping next to a window in the early hours of August 23 when Shahrukh reportedly doused her with gasoline and hurled a lighted match at her. She died on Sunday from her injuries after suffering severe burns to 45% of her body, a doctor told BBC Hindi.
Shahrukh and a second individual who is accused of giving the alleged stalker the gasoline for the assault were both taken into custody by police.
Ankita Singh, 19, succumbed to her severe burn injuries and died on Sunday at a hospital in the city of Ranchi, in the eastern state of Jharkhand, five days after Shahrukh Hussain allegedly set her on fire
Her death has sparked protests in the state after Shahrukh, a Muslim, allegedly wanted to commit ‘love jihad’ by marrying Ankita and forcing her to convert from Hinduism to Islam
Shahrukh Hussain has been detained after the suspected murder of Ankita
Sanjeev, Ankita’s father, said that Shahrukh had been following his daughter on her walks to school for more than a year.
He persisted in pressuring my daughter to wed and become a Christian for months. According to Sanjeev, he was a stalker and an unrequited lover.
Sanjeev said that his daughter, a future police officer, started skipping class to avoid Shahrukh despite the fact that he would frequently phone her cell.
In Jharkhand, protests have broken out over claims that Shahrukh attempted to convert Ankita to Islam and marry her in order to carry out “love jihad.”
Radical Hindu organizations have used the phrase “love-jihad” to accuse Muslim males of wanting to convert Hindu women via marriage.
From her hospital bed, Ankita was able to give police officials a statement in which she disclosed that Shahrukh had threatened to murder her the day before she passed away if she did not see him.
He contacted me again at 8 o’clock on Monday and threatened to murder me if I did not speak to him, she said. My father promised me that he would speak with the man’s family on Tuesday after I told him about the threat. We ate supper and then went to bed. I was resting in a different room.
I felt a discomfort in my back on Tuesday morning, and I could smell something burning.
When I opened my eyes, I saw him fleeing. As soon as I began to scream in agony, I ran to my father’s room. After putting out the fire, my parents drove me to the hospital.
When Ankita (pictured) rejected Shahrukh’s advances, he allegedly harassed her on the phone for days and, on the night before setting her on fire, he told her he would kill her if she did not meet him
Sanjeev, Ankita’s father, stated that Shahrukh had been following his daughter as she went to school for more than a year.
Her grandma expressed her family’s sorrow when she said, “Now we just have her memories. This home seems deserted.
According to official statistics, thousands of women and girls are pursued each year in India, and there have been several instances of stalkers harming women who have refused them.
After a married lady declined his Valentine’s Day proposal in 2018, the stalker attacked her with acid, leaving a lifelong scar.
The 30-year-old victim, who is from a tiny hamlet close to Jaipur in Rajasthan, northern India, was a cleaner at a mall when Mehboob Khan, the accused, came up to her with a bottle of acid.
Khan lived close to the victim and had been following her for more than two years, according to the police.
In the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, a stalker set a 17-year-old girl on fire in 2016.
Before she passed away, the girl told the police that the guy had entered her Villupuram home on Monday, lit himself on fire, and given her a bear hug while threatening to kill her for rejecting him.
She said that he had pursued her for more than a year despite her repeated denials, according to police inspector Senthil Vinayakan.
The individual had previously been arrested for a related violation and had even served time in prison. However, no one foresaw this, and they are now both dead.
A software developer was murdered in broad daylight at a railway station in Chennai, a port city, a month earlier. According to authorities, the guy who was detained for her murder had been pursuing her for months.