Woman set on fire in Telangana after rejecting marriage proposal

A 28-year-old married woman was set on fire by a man after she rejected his proposal in Mahabubabad town on Tuesday afternoon (February 17, 2026).

The accused, identified as 40-year-old Kunta Anjaiah, who runs a milk shop at YSR Junction, was in a relationship with the woman, V. Sandhya, alias Manjula. Police said she had been operating a vegetable cart in front of his shop for the past three years.

According to Mahabubabad Town Inspector Mahendar Reddy, the accused was a widower, while the woman was married. Anjaiah had three children and his wife had died, while Sandhya had two children and had been living separately from her husband for the past three years following a family dispute.

She had moved to Mahabubabad with her children and was earning a livelihood by selling vegetables.

The official said that the two had been seeing each other for the past three years. However, Anjaiah allegedly began suspecting that Sandhya was in contact with another person and accused her of ignoring him. He warned her not to meet anyone else and asked her to marry him.

Preliminary investigation suggests that at around 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday (February 17, 2026), Anjaiah went to Sandhya’s residence in Pragathi Nagar Colony and set her ablaze. He then allegedly hugged her, resulting in both sustaining severe burn injuries.

The injured were initially transferred to the Government Hospital in Mahabubabad and later referred to a state-run hospital in Warangal for further treatment. Both are reported to have sustained around 70% burns and remain in critical condition.

A case has been registered and further investigation is under way.