Woman college employee sets herself afire in Delhi

A 35-year-old woman employee, a former lab assistant in a college here, today set herself afire in front of Delhi Secretariat protesting alleged physical and mental harassment by the principal and another staff of the college, police said.

According to the police, the woman used to work as a lab assistant at Bhim Rao Ambedkar College in Yamuna Vihar.
She was admitted to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital with 90 per cent burn injuries where her condition is said to be critical.

“We have recovered a suicide note from the spot in which she has alleged physical and mental harassment by the Principal and one more staff of her college. We are investigating the case and the charges leveled in the suicide note,” said a senior police official.

“We were informed about the incident at about 5 PM. She doused herself with kerosene and set herself on fire at gate number 6 of the Delhi Secretariat. She sustained 90 percent burns and was taken to the LNJP Hospital”, he said.

The woman was sacked from the college two years ago.

Police have spoken to several eye-witnesses to the incident and also questioned her family and friends, police said.