18-year-old girl kills self for Telangana

Apparently upset over delay in the formation of a separate Telangana state, an 18-year-old girl student allegedly committed suicide by immolating herself at Koheda village near here today, the second such death in two days, police said.

D Bhavani, a first-year intermediate student, shut herself in a room at her house, doused herself with kerosene and set herself on fire at around 9.30am, Hayathnagar Inspector of Police B Bhasker said, adding the girl died on the spot.

The girl was alone in the house as her parents and family members had gone to a nearby market to make purchases for Dusshera festivities, he said.

Bhavani had purportedly written (in Telugu) on the room wall that she was taking the extreme step as "there was a failure in declaring a separate Telangana state and no one was responsible for her death", police said adding that a case has been registered.

The incident triggered protests with suspended Telugu Desam Party MLA Nagam Janardhan Reddy, who visited the girl's family, and villagers holding road blockade on the Koheda-Vijayawada state highway.

Some pro-Telangana activists also allegedly pelted stones on private buses.

A pro-Telangana student Ravinder, who set himself on fire in Medak district reportedly for the cause of Telangana, had succumbed to his injuries at a hospital here yesterday.

Pro-Telangana organisations and groups claim that over 600 people, mostly students, have ended their lives in support of the demand for separate statehood since November 2009.