Police said that Girija’s husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law have locked their home and fled and are at present absconding. (Source: Google Maps) Police said that Girija’s husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law have locked their home and fled and are at present absconding. (Source: Google Maps)

The in-laws of a pregnant lady in Mutukur in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh allegedly tried to set her ablaze after an astrologer predicted that she would give birth to a girl child. Police said that T Girija, 28, who is married to T Srinivasulu, a tenant farmer, had last year given birth to a daughter due to which she was facing harassment. When she became pregnant again recently, her mother-in-law T Lakshmi Kantamma took her to an astrologer to know if would give birth to a male child.

When the astrologer said she would give birth to a girl again, Lakshmi Kantamma allegedly started abusing Girija then and there, and after going home started harassing her to bring money from her parents to take care of two daughters.

“After that they started forcing her to undergo an abortion which she refused. They also kept on harassing her to bring more dowry from her parents. On August 20 night, the mother-in-law Lakshmi Kantamma and sister-in-law T Subhashini allegedly tried to pour kerosene and set her on fire. Girija has given a complaint that she woke up just as her mother-in-law struck the match stick and ran for her life after pushing them away. She suffered minor burns on her stomach,” Mutukur Police Station’s sub-inspector Srinivas Reddy said.

The incident, which happened in Boduswami Kadriga village, came to light after Girija lodged a complaint on Monday. Girija stated in her complaint she suspected that they poured acid on her also before kerosene which resulted in the burns on her stomach. Her husband Srinivasulu was not in the house when the incident occurred.

Police said that Girija’s husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law have locked their home and fled and are at present absconding.

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