DU female student sets herself afire

A female student of Dhaka University today allegedly tried to commit suicide by setting herself on fire at the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) on the campus following a quarrel with her ‘boyfriend’.

The 20-year-old victim is a third-year Persian language student and cultural secretary at DU Tourists’ Society. She is a resident of Sufia Kamal Hall on the campus.

She set herself on fire after pouring kerosene on her body inside a toilet on the first floor of the TSC building around 4:00pm.

Hearing her screams, students and TSC officials rushed in and rescued her after entering the toilet through its vacant-upper portion.

She was rushed to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

She is undergoing treatment at the high dependency ward of the burn unit with 28 percent burns below her neck to lower abdomen and some portion of her backside, Partha Sankar Paul, resident surgeon of the unit, told The Daily Star.

She was in a relationship with the boy from school life and they were going through a hard time for the last couple of days due to frequent quarrels, said a family member of the boy who is also a third-year student of Theatre and Performance Studies Department of DU.

"We will take steps against the male student if he is found guilty,” DU Proctor AM Amzad said confirming the incident.