CALCUTTA, India, June 10 (UPI) -- Demands for a larger dowry drove a 20-year-old Calcutta woman to set herself fatally ablaze, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
The Telegraph of Calcutta said Rita Pandit had complained of cruel treatment by her husband Gautam since they were married last year, saying he flew into rages and regularly demanded more of a dowry.
The couple quarreled Saturday evening over dinner, and the woman left the room. Soon after, the husband noticed smoke coming from the bathroom. The woman, who had a 2-month-old daughter, had doused herself in kerosene and was on fire.
The husband tried beating out the flames and neighbors called for help. He suffered minor burns, but his wife died of burns over 80 percent of her body Sunday night.
Police charged the husband with abetting suicide after the woman's father complained of the abuse his daughter endured over the dowry.
