Elderly charred to death while smoking bidi

NEW DELHI: A 72-year-old man was burned allegedly by the fire caused by the bidi that he was smoking in Tughlaqabad in south east Delhi on Monday afternoon.

The deceased has been identified as Jaichand who resided with his wife on the ground floor while his daughter-in-law resided on the first floor.

The man was taken to the hospital in severely burnt condition where the doctors declared him brought dead.

"I was sitting in my shop when one of the boy told me that Jaichand's house is engulfed in flames.

"I quickly rushed to the spot and tried to douse off the flames and called the police and fire brigade to come as soon as possible," said Brahm Prakash, Jaichand's relative.

"As we opened the door on the ground floor I saw Jaichand who was burnt. We rushed him to the hspital instantly," said the relative.

The body has sustained third degree burns and doctors declared him brought dead on arrival.

The relative claim that minutes before the accident he asked for a bidi and a matchbox from his daughter-in-law.

"It is possible that he burnt the sofa on which he was seated and was unable to move as he was unable to move after the heart problem discovered a year ago," said a relative.

The body has been sent for postmortem and the cops are investigating the matter.