Teen burnt alive by classmates in India

Classmates burnt a teen alive in Andhra Pradesh's Bapatla district, Indian media reported on Friday.

The victim, identified as Uppala Amarnath, was a student of Class 10 and was on his way to tuition around 7 am when he came under attack by his classmate Venkateshwar Reddy and others.

As Amaranth was set on fire, he screamed for help, alerting the locals, who rushed to take him to a hospital but he succumbed.

In his statement to the police, Amarnath named Venkateshwar Reddy and two others as his attackers.

A report cited a local police officer as saying: “The boy was completely burnt but he blurted out a 21-year-old person’s name whom we have detained and are interrogating.

He added: “The boy was unable to say whether this particular person set him on fire or if he was behind the attack. We are interrogating the suspect and more details will come out soon.”

Sources said that the boy had confronted a youth of his village who was allegedly harassing his sister daily while she used to go to school or return. Friday morning, the teen was waylaid and allegedly beaten up and pulled into a maize field, doused with petrol by at least one person and set ablaze at an isolated spot between 6 am and 6.30 am.