Woman charred to death on father’s death ceremony ritual day

NT Correspondent

In an unfortunate incident a 42-year-old woman was burnt alive while the other family members sustained severe burn injuries in a suspected gas leakage fire. The incident happened during the sixth month death ceremony rituals of the father of the deceased. The deceased along with her family members were cooking food on Wednesday evening at their house for the ritual when the fire broke out.

The incident happened at KS Layout. The deceased has been identified as Parameshwari. The injured are the deceased’s mother Soubagya, brother Saravana and relatives Bhuvaneshwari, Mala and Paramashivam.

“Parameshwari’s father Kashinath had died of suspected illness six months back. It is said that for one year after the death of Kashinath, the family will hold this ritual every month,” said an officer on part of investigations.

Since the house was small, the family had kept the gas stove in a room and was cooking. The police suspect that the gas regulator must not have been fitted properly which could have resulted in the gas leakage. The deceased who was standing in front of the stove and cooking caught in the flames and died on the spot. The family reportedly were preparing non vegetarian food.

The jurisdictional KS Layout police visited the spot and shifted the injured to the Victoria hospitals burns ward. The KS Layout police have registered a case and are further investigating.