UPLAND, Ind. – The 26-year-old woman set on fire by a lunatic with a lengthy rap sheet on a Chicago train is “very soft-spoken, very gentle’’ and an “incredibly smart’’ former honors student, a friend said Monday.

Victim Bethany MaGee’s “wonderful” church-going family is now reeling as she fights for life, covered in gruesome burns, pals and neighbors said.

”“We just know they are going through a hard time, so we are praying for them,” said a local who lives near the family in their tiny tight-knit Christian community.

MaGee was riding a CTA Blue Line train Nov. 17 when Marcus Reed, 50 — who has previously been arrested 72 times — suddenly doused her with gasoline and used a lighter to set her ablaze, authorities said.

“She [is] incredibly smart. Very soft spoken, very gentle. Very

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