HYDERABAD: In a chilling incident, a 25-year-old woman tried to set herself ablaze in broad daylight in front of the Bowenpally police station on Tuesday. Mother of two children, M Babitha has been hospitalised with over 45 per cent burns. Visuals from CCTV cameras showed Babitha running towards the police station carrying fuel in a bottle. She is then seen flinging her handbag, dousing herself in the liquid and setting fire.
From the handbag, police have reportedly recovered a note in which she said that she would kill herself and one Venkatesh should be punished for torturing her and ruining her life. Police say Babitha was in love with Dinesh and married him four years back and the couple has two daughters.
Few months ago, one Venkatesh started stalking her and allegedly took pictures of her while bathing. He then blackmailed her with the pictures and demanded sexual favours. He forced her into a sexual relationship that continued for more than two months, till her husband found out about it. This led to disputes and Dinesh allegedly assaulted Babitha on a couple of occasions.
Babitha then lodged a complaint against Dinesh at Begumpet police station. The couple were counselled and things went back to normal between them, but that did not last long. Once again Venkatesh started blackmailing her for sexual favours. Again, Dinesh noticed it and Babitha took her daughters and went away to her maternal home about two months ago.
What pushed Babitha to take the extreme step on Tuesday still remains unclear. “On noticing her in flames, cops tried to douse it. A suicide case has been registered and based on her declaration, probe will proceed. She is still under observation,” inspector P Vijay Kumar said.