Teen girl sets herself ablaze

On returning home, Sandhya’s mother Karpagam found the door locked from inside and grew suspicious on getting no response. Thereafter, the neighbours broke into the house and found her charred body in a seated position. 

Police said that she had poured kerosene over her body and set herself ablaze. Sandhya worked as a helper at a private hospital in Thiruvottriyur and was in love with a Tiruvannamalai-based boy who worked in Tambaram. She recently went with him to his hometown against her parents’ will, police said. 

She had suffered 100 per cent burns, said hospital sources. Police suspect that she might have consumed something poisonous before setting herself ablaze since she neither moved nor made any noise when she was in flames.