The incident occurred at Laxmipur village under Pranpur police station in the district, and the accused is on the run.

Yashoda Devi was on her way to the primary school at 5.30 a.m. when Halchal Kumar attacked her with a knife, stabbing her multiple times until she collapsed on the ground. He then poured petrol on her and set her on fire, SDPO, Sadar, Abhijeet Kumar Singh said.

"The preliminary investigation reveals that there was a love affair between them in the past. We have also cross-checked with the family members of the victim and they confirmed this. A panchayat was also held on this matter in the past," he said.

Police recovered the dead body and sent it for a post-mortem examination.