Man arrested for setting woman on fire

Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) arrested a man on Friday in Dhaka's Dhamrai on charges of pouring octane on a woman and setting her on fire in Rajshahi on January 29.

The accused, Nayeem Islam, is an honours student at a college in Dhaka, said Sub-inspector Mohidul Islam, who led the four-member team of Rajshahi Police Bureau of Investigation.

The woman, a student of a Rajshahi college, is being treated at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

The police official said Nayeem had developed a relationship with the woman, who is married with children, some years ago when she used to live in Dhaka along with her family.

Though the family moved to Rajshahi over a year ago, they still maintained contact.

Recently, she wanted to end the relationship, which made Nayeem furious.

On January 29, Nayeem, clad in a burka, went to her house in Puthia upazila in the morning with bottles of octane he purchased the day before.

He waited till she came out of the house, and attacked her.

He poured octane on her and set her on fire. Hearing her screams, locals rushed in and rescued her.

Nayeem managed to flee, added the police official.

The woman's brother filed a case with Puthia Police Station, accusing an unidentified person.

During an investigation alongside Puthia police, the PBI team found Nayeem's involvement.

“Tracking their cellphones and Facebook activities, we found out about the incident and detected Nayeem's presence at the scene of occurrence,” said the PBI official.