A 19-year-old girl committed suicide by setting herself ablaze at her Nalasopara residence last week, after being continuously raped by her relative. The relative allegedly also filmed her nude and threatened to make the video clip public, making her take the extreme step.

According to the police, the teenager used to reside at her aunt’s residence at Don Lane, Nalasopara (E). One of the victim’s relatives informed the police that the aunt’s brother-in-law, Sultan alias Raja, had been raping the girl frequently.

“The relative told us that the frist time, Sultan had spiked the girl’s cold drink and raped her after she lost consciousness. He then shot a nude video of her and assured her that he’d marry her. However, later he refused to marry her and instead, threatened to distribute the video clip through MMS if she spoke about the rapes to anyone,” said BM Hangirge, assistant inspector, Nalasopara police station.

The traumatised girl poured kerosene on her body and set herself ablaze. She was rushed to a nearby private hospital, but due to the burns on her body being severe, she was shifted to Nair hospital and on April 22, she succumbed to burn injuries.

The police are investigating the case and have interrogated the girl’s family members while the accused is on the run since the incident.

“We have registered a case against Sultan under sections 376 (rape), 306 (abetment of suicide), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc with intent to commit an offence), 504 (intentional insult), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. We suspect that some family members were also involved. We are trying to track the location of Sultan’s mobile phone and will soon arrest him,” said an official.