According to eyewitnesses, a traumatised Parvathi, whose marriage was fixed sometime next month, poured kerosene and set herself ablaze in the broad daylight even as the residents of Govindasamy Nagar in Raja Annamalaipuram in the city helplessly watched the shocking spectacle.

As the news of the tragedy spread like wildfire, the usually quiet area was gripped with tension for most part of Wednesday. The angry locals tried to squat on the Raja Annamalaipuram main road demanding action against the head constable of the E4 Abiramapuram police station for having forced the girl to come to the police station for a thoroughlytrivial squabble among neighbours.

According to eyewitnesses, a pan shop owner Perumal who lives opposite Parvathi's house picked up a quarrel with the latter, accusing her of deflating his bicycle tyre around 8 am on Wednesday. As this was almost an everyday occurrence, Parvathi decided to ignore him. But Perumal filed a complaint with the Abhiramapuram police station. And the head constable of the station, acted on the complaint so swiftly that he was outside Parvathi's shanty in just an hour's time. According to eyewitnesses, he arrived there on Perumal's motor bike.

The cop who was in mufti is said to have rebuked Parvathi who had moved into the city from Madurai to attend to her cancer-afflicted mother and teen-aged brothers who run a grocery shop in the same area, only four months ago. When he asked her to come to the police station, Parvathi stoutly refused and so did her brothers. The locals also joined in support of Parvathi. They asked the head constable to take her brother instead.

Butthe head constable would not listen to her pleas. She and her brother, Thangam were taken in an autorickshaw to the police station where she was reprimanded by the head constable again.

Twenty minutes later, she and her brother were let off. When Parvathi returned to her house, she was in for another spell of agony. The complainant Perumal, his wife Vasantha and mother-in-law Muthammal showered abuses on her and reportedly asked her to hang herself if she had any sense of shame. ``Who will marry a girl who was picked up by the police station for interrogation,'' they told her.

A terribly hurt Parvathi, rushed into her shanty, poured kerosene, came onto the street and in front of her abusing neighbours, set herself ablaze.

With almost 100 per cent burns, she was rushed to the Royapettah police station. ``I could not bear to hear the abuses,'' a completely charred, Parvathi wailed, when this reporter visited her in the hospital.

Her brother asked: ``Why did the police take her to the police station? Isthere not a rule against picking up a girl for interrogation?'' (In fact, the Supreme Court had clearly laid down guidelines against taking women to the police station for interrogation).

Meanwhile, the irate residents, rained blows on Perumal, Vasantha and Muthammal, who were later taken into custody. A case has been registered against the trio for abetting suicide. ``Action will be taken against the cop,'' Assistant Commissioner Shiva Shankar told this paper. But till late Monday evening, there was no sign of disciplinary action against the cop.