The police arrested nine people on Friday for allegedly setting an 11-year-old girl on fire in Pinaganahalli in the city on Thursday morning.
Kavitha was on her way to school when three to four people poured kerosene over her and set her afire. The police said the girl’s uncle Harish (32) and his friend Srinivas (26) plotted the attack and have been caught. The other accused are: Manjunath (28), Babu (24), Raghu (21), Raju (24), Puttaraju (26), Ramesh (26) and H Harish (25), who are residents of Pinaganahalli.
The police said a family dispute was behind the attack and Kavitha’s father Venkatesh had earlier filed a couple of complaints with the Hulimavu police station. The accused have been sent to judicial custody.
Kavitha, a resident of Weavers Colony, Bannerghatta Road and a 5th standard student of Bannerghatta Government School, was on her way to school with her elder sister, who asked her to go ahead as she wanted to visit the temple. “Just moments later, these people splashed kerosene all over my body and set me on fire,” she said.