Man burnt to death in Amritsar; wife, in-laws booked

43-year-old Rakesh Kumar aka Rocky of Ludhiana was allegedly burnt to death by his wife and three in-laws at Rani Ka Bagh locality in Amritsar, police said on Wednesday.

The accused, including his wife Pooja, his wife’s brother Manoj, his son Raghav and wife Savita, have been booked on the complaint of the deceased’s father Kherati Lal.

The incident took place at around 10 pm on Monday when Rakesh came to Manoj’s house to persuade his wife to come back home. She had been staying there since August 15.

Kherati Lal said, “My son married Pooja 13 years ago and the couple have an 11-year-old daughter. Pooja had gone to Amritsar to tie Rakhi to her brother on August 15 and since then was living there. My son implored her to come back home, but to no avail.”

He said, “On Monday, at around 10 pm, I along with my son, went to Amritsar to bring Pooja back for taking back. While I went to meet my friend in Amritsar, my son went to Manoj’s house. Upon reaching there, my son was thrashed by Monoj’s son Raghav. After this, they set my son on fire after pouring petrol on him. When I reached the spot, neighbors had doused the fire by pouring water on my son.”

He said his son was taken to civil hospital in Amritsar where doctors referred him to Guru Nanak Dev (GND) hospital. “On Tuesday, doctors of GND hospital referred my son a private hospital where he was declared brought dead,” he added.

Station house officer (SHO) of Cantonment police station, Sukhjinder Singh, said, “A case under Sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian penal code have been registered against the accused who are absconding.” After the post-mortem, the body has been handed over to the kin, he added.