The Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Jharkhand’s Dumka district has said that the class 12 student who died days after being set on fire by a man was a minor, and demanded action against him under the POCSO Act.
The committee said she was around 16 years old as per the class 10 board examination marksheet and not an adult as claimed by the police.
The incident happened in Dumka town on August 23 when the accused allegedly poured petrol on her from outside the window of her room when she was sleeping and set her on fire.
The teenager, who apparently did not reciprocate his overtures angering him, succumbed to her injuries on Sunday.
“We recommend that sections of the POCSO Act be added to the FIR as the girl was a minor as per our probe,” Dumka CWC chairperson Amarendra Kumar told PTI on Monday.
A four-member CWC team led by Kumar met the victim’s family on Monday and procured her marksheet.
“According to her marksheet, she was born on November 26, 2006she was a minor. So, sections under the POCSO Act are applicable in this case,” he added.
Earlier, the Dumka police had claimed that the deceased had mentioned that she was 19 years old in the statement given before the magistrate.
Chief Minister Jharkhand, Hemant Soren said his government is working to bring to justice the man who set ablaze a 19-year-old woman in Dumka. The accused has been arrested.
“Such people should not be forgiven, they should be given the strictest of punishments. Laws should be brought in to further strengthen the existing laws for such incidents,” Hemant Soren said.
“A lot of evil acts are being seen in society. This incident is heart-wrenching & the law is taking its course. The accused has been arrested. It is our effort to see that he is punished at the earliest,” ANI quoted Hemant Soren as saying.
