Chinese woman burns lover's home to break up with him

Jun 02, 2011 |

IANS

Beijing

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A woman in China burnt down her boyfriend's house as she thought it was the ‘best way’ to leave him, police said.

Liu Xiaofang, 24, from Henan province, lived with her 33-year-old boyfriend Tian Jinghuang in Shanghai for three years. They have a two-year-old daughter.

The couple frequently quarrelled and recently Liu met another man online and they became ‘lovers’. She told Tian she wanted to leave with their daughter, but he opposed the idea, police told the Shanghai Daily.

On May 18, the couple had an argument when the woman again told her boyfriend that she wanted to leave with their child. He allegedly threatened to kill her if she left.

The couple called police who mediated in the argument.

When her boyfriend went to buy food, the woman poured edible oil in the room, ignited a sheet, and then escaped with her daughter.

"I decided to burn our home so he wouldn't have a place to live with me. If I sneaked out, I was afraid Tian would take revenge on my family," she told prosecutors.

Liu later turned herself in to police. She has been charged with arson. "I thought it was the best way to show my determination to leave him. I didn't think much about the losses the fire might cause to neighbours," she said.

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