The woman sustained over 90% burns.

A man was arrested for allegedly raping and setting ablaze an 18-year-old woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur city, the police said on Sunday. According to doctors, the woman sustained over 90% burns and her condition was critical.

An FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint lodged by the woman’s family and the accused was arrested for rape and attempt to murder, Fatehpur SP Prashant Verma said.

However, Sujeet Pandey, Additional DGP (Allahabad zone), said it was the woman who allegedly set herself ablaze when a ‘panchayat’ did not approve of her relationship with a distant relative.

When the matter of the relationship came to light, the panchayat was held in her village during which the woman and the man were made to take a pledge that they would live separately, the officer said. Upset over the decision, the woman allegedly set herself ablaze, he said. The police said they were probing this aspect.