An auto-rickshaw driver from Chandina upazila of Cumilla, who set himself on fire after being accused of theft, died yesterday afternoon while undergoing treatment at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Md Sabuj, 30, had sustained 35 percent burns during the incident on April 13.

Confirming the matter, Md Javedul Islam, officer-in-charge of Chandina Police Station, said Sabuj's body was sent to the hospital morgue for autopsy.

Police have advised the victim's family to file a case over the death, and legal action will be taken against those responsible, he added.

Sabuj, a father of two, lived with his family in a rented house in Belashohor area of Chandina town and earned a living by driving a battery-run auto-rickshaw.

According to police and locals, Sabuj and two others used to keep their rickshaws at a garage rented from one Yunus Mia on Hospital Road in Chandina. They took turns guarding the garage. On December 7 last year, around 3:30am, two rickshaws were stolen from the garage while Sabuj was on duty. He claimed the vehicles were stolen when he briefly stepped away to relieve himself.

Later, CCTV footage helped identify the thieves. On March 4, Dulal Mia, one of the rickshaw owners, filed a case naming three individuals and listing 10 unnamed suspects.

Meanwhile, locals detained one person named Manik, and handed him over to the police. However, some local elders intervened and had Manik released, promising to settle the matter outside court.

Eventually, the blame was shifted onto Sabuj, and he was fined Tk 50,000 through an arbitration. He refused to accept the blame and denied to pay the fine.

On the night of April 13, a man named Salauddin, reportedly instigated by local elders, detained Sabuj, seized his rickshaw, and demanded that he must pay the Tk 50,000 fine. Humiliated and distraught, Sabuj poured petrol on himself and set himself on fire in public.

Locals quickly doused the flames and rushed him to Chandina Upazila Health Complex. He was later referred to Cumilla Medical College Hospital and then transferred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he died yesterday.

"There's no law or justice for the poor. The elders let the real thief go and fined my husband. Because of them, everyone started calling my husband a thief. He couldn't take the torture anymore and set himself on fire. They didn't even return his rickshaw. How will I survive now? Where will I go with my two children?" said Sabuj's wife, Khushi Akhter, expressing her grief and anger.