Nearly a week after a Dalit student was killed for allegedly drinking water from an earthen pot reserved only for upper castes, another harrowing incident of a 35-year-old Dalit woman teacher being set on fire in Rajasthan has come to light. The school teacher, who was allegedly burnt alive by her kin over a monetary argument, succumbed to her injuries at the SMS Hospital in Jaipur, the local police said on Wednesday.

The victim, identified as Anita by Superintendent of Police (SP) of Jaipur Rural Manish Agrawal, died on Tuesday night. Police said that on August 10, Anita had confronted her relatives after they failed to repay her loan money. Upon approaching them for the money they had borrowed from Anita, the angry relatives poured inflammable substances on the victim and set her ablaze. The incident took place in Anita’s native village, which is 80 kilometres from Jaipur and falls under the jurisdiction of the Raisar Police station.

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“The accused poured inflammable material on the woman and set her ablaze in her village on August 10,” said Additional SP Dharmendra Yadav.

After being grievously injured from the burns, Anita was initially admitted at a state-run hospital in Jamrao Ramgarh. Later on, she was moved to Jaipur, where she died a week after the incident. Her family has alleged that a timely intervention by the police could have saved her life and even claimed that due to the close association with the accused, the police didn’t offer any timely help.

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Meanwhile, the police refuted the claims made by Anita’s family and stated that there was no laxity on their part as they had reached the spot immediately and admitted her to the nearby hospital upon receiving the information.

A case has been filed against the victim’s relatives based on her statement. However, no arrest has been made yet.

Citing National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, while pointing to the targeted killing of Dalits in the state, said, “Rajasthan is setting new records in crimes against women, atrocities against Dalits, and religious vandalism. Today, Rajasthan is at number one in the cases of rape in the country, second in terms of trafficking of minor girls.”

Cornering the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government, BJP state unit chief Satish Poonia said, “This is not the first such incident under the Congress rule. Many such tragic incidents have happened in the state. An average of 18 rapes and seven murders are taking place daily in the state.”