Muslim woman dies in Kolkata burning attack; Hindu man held after rejected proposal

Elham Asaad Buaras

A 30-year-old Muslim woman has tragically died in Kolkata after a Hindu man allegedly set her on fire following her refusal of his marriage proposal, police have confirmed.

Shagufta Parveen suffered horrific burn injuries in the attack on April 4 and succumbed to her injuries two days later at SSKM Hospital. Before her death, she managed to give a statement to police, naming Siddhartha Chariwal as her assailant and describing the brutal attack in detail.

According to investigators and local media reports, Parveen was lured to a secluded spot near Babughat in the Maidan area, a central public ground, under the pretext of a job interview. Police say an argument broke out, after which Chariwal reportedly doused her in kerosene and set her alight.

Passers-by and police rushed her to hospital, where doctors said she had suffered burns over almost 90% of her body. Despite her critical condition, she was able to identify her attacker in a dying declaration.

Parveen’s mother recounted her daughter’s final movements, “My daughter told me, ‘Ma, I’m heading out for an interview now.’ We had lunch together earlier, but she refused to join me at the market because of the meeting. I only learned of the attack when the police called around 4 pm.”

At the hospital, Parveen told her family of the agonising pain. “It hurt and was burning a lot,” her mother said. She described the extent of her daughter’s injuries, “My child was completely burned, the entire skin was peeling off.”

Family members said Chariwal had been pressuring Parveen to marry him and had offered her a job, both of which she refused. Some reports indicate that she rejected him explicitly due to religious differences.

Chariwal was arrested in the Beleghata area of Kolkata shortly after the attack. Police initially registered the case as attempted murder under Section 109 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. After Parveen’s death and a post-mortem, the charges have been upgraded to murder. The public prosecutor confirmed Chariwal’s bail plea has been denied.

Her mother demanded justice, saying, “The police have assured us that an investigation is underway, and they told us they have captured him. But we want justice. We want him to rot in jail for a lifetime.”