Woman burnt alive in New York subway, NYPD cop seen walking past
Updated: Dec 24th, 2024
A woman was reportedly burnt alive in the New York city subway on Monday, in which, the police have arrested one accused.
Sebastian Zapeta (33) was charged with first and second-degree murder as well as arson on Monday.
Zapeta walked up to the sleeping woman who was seated at the end of a subway car and used a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in flames within seconds.
New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the attack as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could commit against another human being,” adding that it claimed the life of an “innocent New Yorker”.
The accused, Zepeta, is a migrant from Guatemala, who entered the US through Arizona. His immigration status is currently being examined.
The victim’s identity has not yet been released.
The incident drew widespread condemnation. Tech billionaire Elon Musk posted on X, “Enough is enough.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams praised the individuals who alerted authorities, saying, “This type of depraved behaviour has no place in our subways, and we are committed to ensuring swift justice for all victims of violent crime.”
“My prayers are with the family of the victim in this senseless killing,” Adams added in his post on X.
Meanwhile, another video showed that an NYPD officer was present when the woman was set ablaze, but he did not stop to help her.
Netizens expressed anger on social media over the behaviour of NYPD officers saying, “The NYPD would rather waste all their resources on a perp walk than save a woman burning to death. ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING.”
“NYPD was once touted as the finest police force in the nation, another thing democrats destroyed,” a user wrote.
Another user wrote, “Whoever that officer is, he should no longer have his badge or his pension.”
(With inputs from a syndicated feed)
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