A man in Telangana’s Warangal allegedly set his college classmate ablaze on Wednesday after she declined his proposal to marry him, reports said. The police said the woman is in a critical condition and that the accused has been arrested.

The accused was identified as 21-year-old Sai Anvesh who had been allegedly harassing the woman for the last several months.

The police recorded her statement at the hospital she is being treated at. “After she rejected his proposal, the accused poured petrol on her and set her ablaze,” said Hanamkonda Assistant Commissioner of Police Chandraiah told The News Minute. “Though there were enough people around, they could not come to her aid. Only after she fell down, the crowd rushed to help her. They were all scared.”

The incident follows an attack on a 17-year-old girl who was stabbed by her alleged stalker in Hyderabad earlier this month. In January 2018, the Hyderabad Police arrested a man and charged him with murder for allegedly stabbing his colleague to death at her house in the Kukatpally neighbourhood.