Chennai: A 34 year old woman lab assistant suffered burn injuries after her employer flung lab spirit at her and later set her afire at a diagnostic centre in Madipakkam on Sunday night. The woman is undergoing treatment for her burn injuries at the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital (KMCH). Preliminary investigations have suggested that professional differences between the woman and her employer Raja led to the incident.
The victim, A Yamuna is a resident of Sivasubramaniam nagar in Puzhuthivakkam. Her husband, Anandan is a call taxi driver and the couple has a four-year-old daughter. On Sunday night, around 9 pm, Yamuna had rushed out of the lab named Sri Balaji Diagnostics in Vanuvampet, screaming. Public rushed to her aid and put out the fire on her body and moved her to a hospital nearby. She was later shifted to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital (KMCH).
Her employer, Raja too suffered burn injuries on his hands and he got himself admitted in a private hospital. Preliminary investigations revealed that Yamuna joined work in the lab four months ago. Her employer, Raja is a resident of Anna Nagar. Yamuna and the man had worked together as lab assistants at a private hospital a few years ago.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Raja and Yamuna had entered into an argument over the latter’s slack attitude towards work. The woman had allegedly hurled verbal abuses at him which enraged Raja, who however told police that the woman set herself on fire and threatened him with consequences. Police sources quoted Yamuna’s family as saying that Raja lured the woman to work at his lab by promising her thrice the salary she was earning. However, he paid her less than what she was earning and this had upset Yamuna who wanted to leave her job.
When the argument over this escalated on Sunday night, Raja had hurled the lab spirit at the diagnostic centre on her and later set her afire, according to a complaint. Madipakkam Police registered a case against Raja. He was produced before a magistrate in Tambaram and was remanded to judicial custody. The woman had suffered 46 % burn injuries and is undergoing treatment.
