A fight over a face mask has claimed the life of a 19-year-old woman in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur district, police said.

The incident occurred on July 3 but came to light only on Sunday. The incident took place at Rentachintala of Guntur district in the state and the woman named Karnati Fatima, who sustained head injuries while trying to save her father, succumbed at the Government General Hospital in Guntur on Saturday.

Karnati Fatima was out with her parents on July 3 when an argument began between her parents and a few youths from the locality.

Earlier the youth had made fun of Karnati Yalamandala, Fatima’s father for moving around in the neighbourhood without wearing a facemask.On Jukl 3 however, one of the young men had not been using a mask and Fatima's mother questioned the man named Annapureddy Mallikharjuna for roaming the streets without wearing a mask.

The Rentachintala police station sub-inspector CH Suresh told Times of India that this led to a conflict.

The verbal spat turned violent when Mallikharjuna along with his brother, Venkatesh, father Srinu and his uncle Samba assaulted the couple with sticks. The couple's daughter, Fatima who intervened sustained a head injury but later succumbed at the General Government hospital, Guntur.

Police say when the youth attacked Yalamandala with sticks, his daughter tried to save him. On a complaint by the girl's father, police booked four men for murder and arrested them.