Sheriff deputies have arrested three people who allegedly beat an 83-year-old woman and set her on fire in Meriwether County.

The attack happened Aug. 4 at a home along Forest Road.

The sheriff says three men and a woman kicked in the back door and attacked Dow as she was lying in bed.

"These suspects began to demand money from Miss Dow. She pleaded with them that she didn't have any money. They began to brutally beat her," Sheriff Chuck Smith said.

The family says both of Dow's arms were broken, and she had cuts and bruises all over her face.

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The sheriff says the robbers then poured a flammable liquid on the victim and lit it. But Beth Dow says her mother-in-law is a survivor.

"She remembered she had a gallon of water she filled her breathing machine with. With those broken hands, she took that top off the gallon of water and poured it on her head to put out the flames," Dow said.

The victim also managed to crawl to another room to get her cellphone and call 911.

The sheriff department arrested Justin Grady, Cortavious Heard, and Shanquavious Cameron.

Dow will likely spend several weeks in the hospital.

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