Cell wars claim two lives

Three months after a 35-year-old woman set herself ablaze, allegedly because she felt humiliated when her brother slapped her over her refusal to give him a mobile phone handset, the woman breathed her last on Saturday.

The woman was undergoing treatment since the incident took place at her residence in Pimple-Nilakh near Sangvi. The deceased was identified as Bhagyashree Bhimrao Lohatkar (35) of Chamarga village in Latur. The Sangvi police booked her brother Ram Namdev Kamble for abetment of suicide.

Police Inspector Shantaram Tayde from the Sangvi police station said, "Ram had lost a mobile and Bhagyashree was unwilling to give him another handset. She told her daughter Ashwini also not to give Ram a mobile. On July 3, Ram insisted Ashwini hand over Bhagyashree's handset. She didn't and he slapped her."

Tayde said when Bhagyashree came to know of the incident, she demanded an explanation from Ram.

"Then he and his wife also slapped and beat up Bhagyashree over the issue," said Tayde. "She felt humiliated after the beating and set herself ablaze. The siblings, hailing from Latur, had come to Pune a few days before the incident on some work."

Tayde said Bhagyashree was admitted to a hospital in Latur. "She died in the hospital on Saturday. The Latur police had recorded Bhagyashree's statement, in which she named Ram and his wife Manjusha as responsible for the assault," said Tayde. "According to the statement and the complaint filed by Bhagyashree's husband Bhimrao, a case has been registered against Ram Kamble. A team will be sent to Latur to nab Ram and he will be arrested soon."