In a horrific incident from Kerala, a 34-year-old woman police officer in Alappuzha district was brutally hacked to death and set ablaze by a man in broad daylight on June 15, due to a spurned marriage proposal. She died on the spot after the man stabbed her, poured kerosene on her and set her on fire.

The accused has been identified as 33-year-old Ajaz, Aluva traffic station police officer. The deceased, Soumya Pushpakaran, a Civil Police Officer (CPO) of Vallikunnam police station in Alappuzha, was attacked when she was on her way back home from her duty.

Police have found that the two knew each other for many years. Indira, Soumya’s mother, said that Ajaz had been harassing Sounya for days with a marriage proposal. Soumya was married with three children, and her husband works in Libya.

“Soumya had taken Rs 1.50 lakh from Ajaz and when she wanted to return the amount, Ajaz refused to take it back. She had credited the sum to his bank account, but he returned it. He wanted to marry my daughter. When she rejected the proposal, Ajaz threatened to kill her husband and children. He came to Soumya’s house twice with the proposal. On one occasion, he even thrashed her with shoes,’’ The Indian Express quoted Indira as saying.

The Crime Was Pre-Planned

The incident took place at around 3 pm on Saturday, June 15. While Soumya was returning home from work on the motorcycle, Ajaz followed her in a car and knocked her two-wheeler down.

Soumya tried to escape but was caught by Ajaz, who then stabbed her and set her on fire.

“His intention was to kill himself as well. He first poured petrol on himself, he then stabbed her, poured petrol on Soumya and set her on fire. He sustained forty percent burns,” said Shaiju Irbahim, the Investigating officer, as reported by The News Minute.

According to the investigating officer, being a duty-bound police officer in the force, Ajaz must have known the repercussions of his act, but he had intended to kill himself as well.

“The weapons, the knife he used was sharp. He must have bought it from some market,” Ibrahim said. The autopsy on Soumya’s body was conducted at Medical College, Vandanam in Alappuzha.

This incident comes just after a 21-year-old woman, Neethu, was burnt alive in Thrissur on April 4 by her stalker. On March 13, 20-year-old Kavitha Vijaykumar, was set ablaze by her stalker, Ajin Reji Mathew, in Pathanamthitta.

Also Read: Another Victim: Woman Set On Fire By Stalker In Telangana Dies After Fighting To Survive