A 45-year-old woman died of burn injuries on Thursday after she was allegedly set on fire by her father-in-law here late last evening.
The victim, identified as Harjinder Kaur of Burj Puhla village, suffered critical burn injuries and died at a private hospital in Amritsar today.
The police have booked Arjun Singh (80), who went absconding after the crime. Harjinder’s husband is a head constable in the Punjab Police.
The victim, yesterday, in her statement to the police said that she had a verbal fight with her father-in-law Arjun Singh over some monetary issue.
She said her father-in-law poured petrol on her.
She said before she could understand anything, he set her on fire.
Surinderpal Singh, additional SHO, Harike police station, told the victim was married to Gursahib Singh around 22 years ago and the couple has two children. The body was sent to Patti Civil Hospital for post-mortem examination.
He said earlier a case under Section 307 was registered against the accused, which has now been converted into murder.
Gursahib Singh said the incident has shocked the entire family.
Sukhwinder Singh and Surjit Singh, Sarpanch and former Sarpanch of the village, said that Arjun was a marginal farmer having just two-and-half acres of land.
They said he was of harsh nature.