TWENTY-NINE-YEAR-OLD Sandrama “Roma” Raju, who was set on fire, reportedly by her husband last Monday, succumbed to her injuries at around 19:00 hours on Saturday.

Raju was battling for her life in the Intensive Care Unit of the New Amsterdam Hospital after suffering burns to 98 per cent of her body. One of her cousins, Avinash Ramkissoon, told the Sunday Chronicle that an official from the hospital informed the family of her demise via a telephone call and the family headed to the hospital immediately after.

Ramkissoon said the family remains in a state of shock and are contemplating how to break the news to her five-year-old daughter. Raju worked as a laboratory technician at the Port Mourant Hospital and was described as a hardworking, quiet, kind and loving individual.

This newspaper had reported that Raju and her husband, Ganeshwar Sheocharran, were involved in a heated argument in the wee hours of September 13 when she poured kerosene on her body.

The suspect, who was reportedly usually abusive to his wife, took a lighter and attempted to set Raju alight, but the lighter did not spark the first time. Not satisfied, the suspect reportedly tried again and succeeded.

In an attempt to extinguish the blaze, the terrified woman rolled on the ground, but by then most of her body had already sustained burns.

She was subsequently taken to the Port Mourant Hospital and later transferred to the New Amsterdam Hospital where she eventually died.

After the incident, her husband evaded the police and fled the country to the United States of America. Local and international law enforcement authorities intercepted him upon his arrival at the JFK airport in New York.

He was sent back on a flight to Guyana which arrived at 06:45 hours on Wednesday last. Following his arrest, he was charged with the attempted murder of Raju on Friday and remanded to prison. It is expected that he will now be charged with murder.