The youth, Balu Jhanjhat, a painter by profession, was obsessed with Reshma and used to follow her wherever she went, police said.

On finding the girl alone in her house yesterday, the youth barged in with a can of kerosene and asked her to declare her love for him.

When the panic-stricken girl refused, the youth dragged her by her hair and mercilessly assaulted her. He then doused her with kerosene and set her afire, police said.

Reshma's screams alerted the neighbours, who rushed her to Sassoon Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries. However, before breathing her last, she narrated the incident to her mother, who filed a police complaint.

The youth was absconding, police added.

This was the second incident here within a week, after the brutal killing of a minor girl by a psychopathic lover.On Tuesday last, a 20-year old youth stabbed a 12-year-old girl 34 times to death in Walchandnagar area of city as he could not tolerate her friendship with another boy.