Coimbatore, May 24 (PTI) Five members of a family today attempted to set themselves afire near a police station in Tirupur district but were saved as none of them was carrying a matchbox.
They were demanding the arrest of a man who allegedly promised to marry a 17-year-old girl of the family but absconded after impregnating her.
Police said the victim girl, her parents and two sisters came to a spot near the all Women police station at Palladam in Tirupur district and doused themselves with kerosene.
However, none of them had a match stick to set themselves ablaze. Alert members of the public and police quickly overpowered them, they said.
Later police registered a complaint from the girl, working in a powerloom unit.
The girl's parents told police that all their attempts to trace the accused had proved futile.