New Delhi: A 65-year-old woman was charred to death after a fire broke out in the rooftop bathroom of a house in southeast Delhi’s Badarpur area, with police suspecting that the blaze might have been triggered when she lit a matchstick to smoke a bidi, an officer said on Sunday.
The incident took place in the Molarband area on Saturday evening. Officials said a PCR call regarding a fire was received at the Badarpur police station. Soon after receiving the information, police rushed to the spot and found that a fire had broken out in the rooftop bathroom of the house.
Police found the woman’s charred body inside. She was subsequently identified as Veenu Singh (65). “The bathroom area contained wooden items and garbage that had also caught fire during the incident,” the officer said.
According to a preliminary inquiry, Singh used to smoke occasionally and would sometimes go to the secluded rooftop area to do so. Investigators suspect that the fire might have started accidentally while she was smoking in the enclosed space, leaving her trapped inside. Family members, however, alleged that the blaze might have been caused due to a leakage from a piped gas connection installed in the house around two months ago.
“She had gone upstairs and the bathroom was filled with gas due to the leak. None of us knew about it because there was no smell. She probably lit a matchstick and that’s how the fire started,” the victim’s daughter-in-law, Mamta Singh, said.
She said the victim sometimes smoked before having tea. Family members rushed to the rooftop after hearing shouts about the fire. Police said no foul play is suspected and the death appears accidental. The body has been kept at AIIMS for post-mortem.