The Kerala Police on Tuesday arrested a man for setting a woman on fire after she turned down his proposal to marry him in Pathanamthitta, Manorama reported. The woman is in a critical condition after sustaining 65% burns and is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Thiruvalla.

The police identified the accused as Ajin Reji Mathew, a resident of Kumbanad. He underwent a medical test after the Thiruvalla Police took him into custody. The woman, a student at the Tata Institute of Medical Sciences, was on her way to college when he accosted her.

An unidentified police official said the accused and the woman were classmates in school.

The police said the accused tried to run away after setting the woman on fire but bystanders doused the blaze and prevented him from escaping, according to The News Minute. “During questioning, the accused has given a statement claiming that they both were in a relationship,” a police official said. “But that is his version and we are yet to verify this.”

In February 2017, a man set himself and a girl he had proposed to on fire after she turned him down on Kerala’s Kottayam. Both of them succumbed to their injuries. On February 27, a man in Telangana’s Warangal allegedly set his college classmate ablaze after she declined his proposal to marry him.