The news comes at a time when the Centre and many states have been promoting the âBeti Bachao Beti Padhaoâ campaign which seeks to address gender inequality through education.

Defying the family in her quest for higher education proved fatal for a 16-year-old village girl in Bihar.

Khushboo Kumari, who was allegedly set on fire by her father and stepmother for refusing to marry an older man, succumbed to burn injuries at Patna Medical College Hospital on February 5.

The victim's elder brother Amrit Raj said in the FIR that their father Sunil Thakur, stepmother Poonam Devi and other relatives burnt Khushboo alive because she refused to marry and wanted to study further.

This underlines the social barriers girls still face in pursuing education at a time when the Centre and many states have been promoting the 'Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' campaign. Ironically, the 'Mukhyamantri Balika Cycle Yojna', a scheme started by the Nitish Kumar government under which girls are given free bicycles to ride to school, claims to have changed the face of Bihar.

Khushboo, who lived in Purani Bazar under Masaurhi police station about 35 km from Patna, was studying in Class XII at a local school and was said to be a bright student.

Masaurhi police Station House Officer (SHO) Arun Kumar Akela said Khushboo died of burn injuries. "We are looking into the circumstances leading to her death," he said. "We are waiting for the postmortem report."

In his complaint, Amrit Raj said his sister wanted to pursue higher education but her father and stepmother had fixed her marriage two months ago with a much older person from Naubatpur. When the victim came to know about the plan, she refused to marry which left her parents infuriated.

The brother alleged that Khushboo was being harassed at home and on February 3, their father, aided by his wife, set her on fire and fled from the scene. She was later taken to a local hospital from where she was referred to Patna Medical College Hospital in a critical condition.

Amrit said their father had married Poonam in 2001 after the death of their mother. While he went to live with his maternal grandfather at Dhanarua, Khushboo, who was a small child at the time of their mother's death, stayed back with the father.

Amrit alleged that Khushboo had always been treated shabbily at home with the stepmother forcing her to do all the household chores. Despite not being allowed to study, the victim used to take some time off from the chores to do the school work, he added.

The local police lodged an FIR against Khushboo's father, stepmother and their relatives on the basis of Amrit's statement and are investigating the matter. All the accused are, however, absconding.

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