The unemployed woman who set herself ablaze in front of the Punjab Chief Minister’s residence in December died while undergoing treatment on Saturday. Officials said that she had recovered and was about to be discharged from GMSH-16 on Thursday, but developed an infection and died.
Doctors said she died of Septicemia, or blood poisoning, which occurs when a bacterial infection enters the bloodstream. “During her stay in the hospital, she developed the infection which proved fatal,” said a doctor.
Gurpreet Kaur, 38, from Gurdaspur, had received around 35 per cent burn injuries, mostly on her thighs and legs, after she immolated herself in front of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s residence in Sector 2 on December 12.
“She died in the afternoon on Saturday following which her post-mortem was conducted. Inquest proceedings have been started under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code. As she had no known relatives, her last rites were conducted by a local NGO,” said Inspector Malkit Singh, SHO of Sector 3 police station.
According to another official, Gurpreet was referred to PGI twice during her treatment. “She was stable and conscious the day she was admitted and had been recovering ever since. However, she was referred to PGI twice during this period when her health deteriorated. She was about to be discharged two days ago but was kept hospitalised when she developed the infection. Her condition deteriorated and she died on Saturay.”
For the last 15 years, Gurpreet had been living at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. She had studied till Class XII but failed to get a job. After immolating herself, she had said, “I visited various government departments seeking a job, but officials mocked me and told me that I needed a politician’s “approach” to get a job. Therefore, I decided to meet the CM at his residence.”
She came to Chandigarh in December and tried to meet Badal for three consecutive days. On the third day, she set herself ablaze.