Girgaon, january 19: A 25-year-old woman set herself on fire outside the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) headquarters on Monday evening. Renuka Mahadik, a resident of Khetwadi in Girgaon, has been demanding a job after her husband, a civic employee, died a year-an-a-half-ago.
Frustrated over not securing a job not with the BMC, Mahadik poured kerosene on herself on Monday and was rushed to GT Hospital for preliminary treatment.
Sources in the GT Hospital said that Mahadik suffered from 70 per cent burns. Mahadik’s brother, Vikas Salvi, who was also present at the site suffered burns on his left hand while trying to put off the fire.
Dr Sanjay Oak, dean of the KEM Hospital where Mahadik was shifted later, said that her condition is critical. “She has suffered 75 per cent burns. The next 24 hours are critical,” Dr Oak said.
Mahadik’s husband Ravindra, who was a BMC employee, died a year-an-a-half-ago and since then she has been trying to secure a job with the civic body on pity basis and also claims that she has not been paid compensation.
“While initially some suspected that her brother had set her on fire, Mahadik in her complaint has claimed that she set herself ablaze. According to Mahadik, her family was entitled to compensation after Ravindra’s death. She alleged that the process was getting delayed and as a means of protest, she burnt herself,” said a police officer from Azad Maidan police station.
—Agencies