11-yr-old girl set ablaze loses battle for life

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An 11-year-old girl, who was set ablaze by a gang and battling for life at Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru for the last two days, died on Saturday morning.

Kavitha had sustained 90 per cent burns after she was set ablaze by four to five people early on Thursday morning. Kavitha, a resident of Weavers’ Colony in Hulimavu and a fifth standard student at the Bannerghatta Government School, was on her way to school with her younger sister, eight-year-old Kavya.

Her sister asked Kavitha to go ahead as she wanted to meet some friends and go to a temple. No sooner than they parted, the gang caught hold of Kavitha, doused her with kerosene and set her ablaze.

Kavitha’s father Venkatesh, a cab driver with a travel agency, who was washing his car hardly 500 feet away from the scene of the incident, saw his daughter on fire and rushed to her rescue. He put out the fire, and immediately shifted her to Victoria Hospital.

Venkatesh told Deccan Chronicle that he suspected area rowdies behind the incident. “They were extorting money from me for years. They came around asking for Rs 1,000, and sometimes their demand went up to Rs 3,000. When their visits became too frequent, I lodged a complaint with the Hulimavu police.”

But after a year, some influential people from the area pressured Venkatesh to withdraw the complaint. “I never thought that filing a complaint would lead to such a tragedy and I would lose my daughter one day,” said an inconsolable Venkatesh.

But he could sense that the rowdies were following him and keeping a watch on him for the last 15-20 days. Kavitha, in a moment of consciousness, told Venkatesh that her attackers had dyed their hair blond.

Venkatesh’s younger brother Shiva said: “Venkatesh is innocent and sincere in his work. Kavitha was a friendly and jovial child. She was very active in sports and studies.”

Dr Ramesh, head of the plastic surgery department in Victoria Hospital, said: “Kavitha had sustained over 90 per cent of burns all over her body, and we had treated her on an emergency basis. We put her on oxygen support, and administered painkillers and antibiotics. She was not fully conscious, but was responding to some queries. But since the injuries were deep and her neck and parts of her brain were burnt, her chances of survival were very less.”

Family dispute led the crime: Police

The Hulimavu police have arrested Kavitha’s uncle Harish (32), his friend Srinivas (26), and seven others for the crime. They suspect a family dispute behind the incident. They said Harish allegedly asked Srinivas to carry out the attack along with his associates.

The other arrested, who are all residents of Pinaganahalli, are: Manjunath (28), Babu (24), Raghu (21), Raju (24), Puttaraju (26), Ramesh (26) and H. Harish (25). The accused have been sent to judicial custody.