Delhi man dies after setting self on fire, wife in police custody

A man died in Delhi after allegedly setting himself on fire outside his wife's home amid a marital dispute. While police state he threatened suicide, an eyewitness claims the dying man accused his wife and mother-in-law of setting him on fire.

In a shocking incident reported from North West Delhi, a man died after allegedly setting himself on fire outside his wife's residence in the Jahangirpuri police station area of Northwest Delhi late yesterday, police said on Tuesday.

Delhi Police further said that an inquiry has been initiated, and the man's wife and mother-in-law have been taken into custody for questioning to ascertain the exact sequence of events. Police said that they recieved a PCR call on May 18 regarding a fire incident at the Mahendra Park Police Station from a residence in Jahangirpuri. Police staff, along with SHO reached the spot and found the man identified as Deepansh Chaudhary in a burnt condition. He was shifted to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial (BJRM) Hospital, where he was declared dead during treatment. Police said that an inquiry revealed that the deceased and his wife were having matrimonial disputes and a complaint was earlier made at the Crime against Women (CAW) Cell. On the day of the incident, after an altercation, the deceased allegedly threatened to commit suicide and later set himself on fire outside his wife's residence, a police statement said.

Eyewitness Contradicts Police Version

Meanwhile owner of a house inside the residential building where the incident took place said, "Last night at 8:30 PM, when news of a fire broke out, my husband, my mother-in-law, and I were inside the house; we initially assumed the fire had started somewhere outside or that a short circuit had occurred. Subsequently, people gathered at our doorstep and informed us that the fire was actually inside our own home, according to Paramjeet, the owner of the house. "As soon as we stepped outside to investigate, we saw a young man descending while engulfed in flames. He then fell down the staircase, landed at the bottom, and lay there; he was completely naked, and his entire body was severely burnt. After lying there for about 10 minutes or so he gave a statement. We called the SHO because, at that moment, we were unable to get through to the emergency helpline (112)... We also called for an ambulance... An officer arrived from the police station and recorded the young man's statement on his phone; in it, the victim alleged that his wife and mother-in-law had set him on fire, and that they had also enlisted the help of two to three other individuals," the Jahangirpuri house owner said "He also made certain allegations regarding an affair--claiming that his wife was involved with two to three other men... When we informed his family about the incident, his wife refused to come downstairs, stating that he should simply be left to burn... No one from his family came forward. The police arrived later; they took his statement and transported him away in the ambulance. Later, we learned that he had passed away," Paramjeet said. (ANI)

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