Woman allegedly burnt alive in Rudraprayag

DEHRADUN: A 55-year-old woman was allegedly burnt alive by unidentified person while she was asleep at her home in the Rudraprayag district of Garhwal region, police said.
The incident occurred in the wee hours on Saturday when the victim Vimla Thapliyal was alone at home in Jakholi tehsil’s Jaiti village at the time of the incident, police officials said.
On seeing the smoke emanating from house, villagers broke open the door when and saw the woman lying on her bed with her body half-burnt. Senior officials say it is a “blind” murder with no substantial leads.
“There are no witnesses or evidence in this case. But it looks somebody had entered the house and set her on fire in the night hours. Only after investigation, we can conclude if she was killed due to enmity or for purpose of loot,” Prahlad Narayan Meena, Rudraprayag SP told TOI.
“We have got some initial leads in the case which I cannot discuss at the moment but I am confident that we will be able to solve the case in next two-three days,” the district police chief said.
Thapliyal lived alone in her house as her husband died 5 years back in Delhi, while her son works as a priest in Rishikesh and lives there with his family.