19-yr-old girl dies of third degree burn injuries in Mkg

Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, FEBRUARY 10

IN an incident that sent shockwaves across Mokokchung on Monday, a 19-year-old girl succumbed to burn injuries she had reportedly suffered on January 30 last, but the treatment for which she was denied by her “lover and family” who rather, it has been alleged, had kept her confined inside their house at Khensa village till Sunday evening.
All this while, the girl’s family was kept completely in the dark of her condition. She was somehow discovered by her elder sister, who was living next door. It was informed that the victim had been living with her elder sister till December last.
The victim, Temsusenla Jamir, died at Imkongliba Memorial Hospital in Mokokchung on Monday at around 3 am. She had suffered third degree burn injuries, mostly on the front, and died of septicemia, according to informed sources.
Even as the circumstances leading to her death is shrouded in mystery and smacks of foul play. The in-laws have reportedly claimed that she had tried self-immolation. Sources, however, said the victim, before breathing her last, had denied attempting self-immolation.
It has been widely suggested that she had named a person as the one who had set her on fire. The identity of that person (named by the victim) remains unclear yet, even as rumours persist that she had named a woman.
Questions remain on why the in-laws did not bother to inform the girl’s family or even the police, in case of an attempt at self-immolation by the girl. There were suggestions that the father-in-law himself is a policeman.
It has been reported that Mokokchung police has taken the boy with whom the victim was having an affair, identified as Chubasunep, son of Benthungo Lotha, into custody. An FIR has also been lodged with Police Station II, Mokokchung by the victim’s family. SP Mokokchung could not be reached for further details.