5 of a family found charred to death in their house

DARJEELING: Five persons of a family, including three children were charred to death in a suspected case of suicide. The incident took place in Bharatpur under Bishnupur Gram Panchayat, Hemtabad, North Dinajpur. On Friday night, after the family members had gone to sleep, Ram Bhowmik (one of the victims) allegedly poured kerosene and set fire to the closed room, where he and his family members were asleep.

Four family members, including Ram Bhowmik (40), his wife Shankari Bhowmik (32) and daughters Parna (7) and Saraswati (4) died on the spot. Another daughter, 12-year-old Rani

Bhowmik, was rushed to the Raigunj Medical College and Hospital with severe burn injuries, where she breathed her last.

Later, police recovered the charred bodies and sent those for post mortem. An investigation has been initiated. Ram used to earn a living by ferrying passengers in his motorised van rickshaw. With the rise in the number of Covid cases, the number of passengers started decreasing. He was finding it difficult to support his family.

Public representatives along with administrative top brass visited the household on Saturday.

"Investigation is on to ascertain what could be the reason behind the incident," said Arvind Kumar Meena, District Magistrate.