A housewife was set on fire over dowry allegedly by her in-laws in Kishoreganj’s Hossainpur upazila. 

The 19-year-old victim, Nadira Akter, who was married around six months ago, is struggling for life at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital (MMCH).

A doctor of the hospital said Nadira sustained 13 percent burns to her chest, face and belly. Terming her condition stable, the doctor said the victim would be shifted to the hospital’s burn and plastic surgery unit tomorrow.

Nadira, second among five children of farmer Shamsul Islam in Dighirpar village in Gafargaon upazila, was married to Rukun Mia, 25, of Saheber Char village in Hossainpur upazila, in November last year.

The victim’s mother Rashida Khatun said during the marriage, they gave Tk 50,000 as dowry money demanded by Rukun’s family. But Rukun and his family members used to torture Nadira, demanding Tk 1 lakh more.

As they failed to give the victim’s in-laws the money, the torture on Nadira increased, the mother said.

On the night of April 22, Nadira and her husband were locked in an altercation over the matter and then Nadira had been beaten senseless by her husband and in-laws, she alleged.

At one stage, they set Nadira on fire in her room and closed the door from outside, Rashida also alleged.

Later, neighbours rescued Nadira and took her to her parents’ house, said the victim’s uncle Mohibullah.

But this correspondent could neither reach Rukun nor his other family members for comments.  

As Nadira’s family could not manage money for her treatment, they hired a quack to treat Nadira at the house. As her condition deteriorated, she was admitted to the MMCH on Saturday morning with the financial support of locals, Mohibullah said.

“As we are busy handling the critical patient, we could not file a case yet,” he said.

Police did not visit the patient yet, he said.

Abul Hossain, officer-in-charge of Hossainpur Police Station, said he was informed of the incident by locals, but no one from the victim’s family had made contact yet.

If a case was lodged, police would go for action, said the OC.