Entire family burnt to death in south east Delhi
25 April 2014 5:53 AM IST
Six members of a family were burnt to death, under mysterious circumstances, at their rented accommodation in south-east Delhi’s Zakir Nagar area on the intervening night of 23 and 24 April. The youngest member of the family, a five-year-old son, who suffered 35% burn injuries, succumbed to his injuries late on Thursday.
The incident took place at around 1.30 am when a neighbour, identified as Naeem Amrohi felt some heat in his room that was adjacent to the deceased’s house. He came out of his residence and observed smoke coming out from Feroze Alam’s (35) house, owner of an embroidery factory. Amrohi raised an alarm to gather other neighbours.
A call was made to the fire department. Meanwhile locals tried to break open the main door of Alam’s residence at Gali No 40, Zakir Nagar. Eye-witnesses to the horrifying incident told police that they saw all family members burning amongst the flames. The neighbours tried to throw water on them to douse the fire, but they failed as the flames were too high and dense.
The victims have been identified as Yasmin (30), Afreen (12), Afroz (9), Aamir (8). In a joint operation by the fire department and Delhi police, all injured persons were immediately rushed to Safdarjung hospital. Four of them including Alam were declared dead on arrival, while Afreen succumbed to her injuries during treatment.
According to doctors, Asif, the five-year-old boy had received 35% burns and was kept in the intensive care unit. However, he tragically succumbed to his injuries late on Thursday evening.
Investigating officials are yet ascertain the cause behind the fire. Sources have claimed that they have recovered a can of kerosene from the room. ‘Prima facie it seems that it could be a case of suicide as neighbours claimed that they did not hear any screams coming out from the charred house,’ the official added.
The locals told police that they were a happy family but Yasmin was under depression, as she was suffering from severe toothache since the past month. Recently, the couple purchased a house in the same colony and were about to shift to a flat on Sunday.
Their bodies have been kept in the mortuary after the post-mortem examination was conducted. The bodies are likely to be handed over to Alam’s parents, who are natives of Bihar. They might reach Delhi on Friday evening.
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