A 59-year-old woman succumbed to severe burn injuries after her mentally challenged son allegedly hit her on the head with an iron before setting their flat on fire, police said on Sunday.
Investigators identified the deceased as Ranu Sah, who was pulled out from the burning flat by firefighters and police and rushed to a private hospital in Sector-38 for treatment. Sah died on Sunday morning, they said.
The incident occurred in flat number 401 of Tower-3 in an upscale condominium on Sohna Road, Sector-48, on Saturday night.
Fire department officials said that they had received a fire alert at 11.19pm on Saturday after which two tenders were sent to the spot from Sector-29 fire station. A senior fire department official said that one of the three bedrooms of the flat was completely burnt.
“We also found the son sitting in a separate bedroom who, on being questioned, said that he had set the apartment on fire. We didn’t react much at that time as our primary focus was to save anyone trapped inside and douse the flames. The fire was controlled within 30 minutes,” he said.
Station house officer of Gurugram Sadar police station, Inspector Arjun Dev, said that they were able to enter the apartment after breaking one of the two entry doors as it was locked from inside.
{{/usCountry}}Station house officer of Gurugram Sadar police station, Inspector Arjun Dev, said that they were able to enter the apartment after breaking one of the two entry doors as it was locked from inside.
{{/usCountry}}“The woman was lying injured and unconscious on the floor of the bedroom which her son had set on fire,” he said, adding it was the neighbours who had spotted smoke billowing from the windows and alerted both the police and fire department.
Dev said that Sah’s son was aged about 26 years and was also aggressive in nature. “He had assaulted his mother 2-3 days ago and also on Saturday morning after an argument. She had sought help on Dial-112 but refused to press any charges against him when a police team had reached the spot hardly 12 hours before the fire. He told us that he had a grudge against his mother for some time. He finally set the clothes and papers kept in the bedroom on fire on Saturday night which soon engulfed the entire place,” he said.
Assistant commissioner of police, Gurugram Sadar, Kapil Ahlawat, said that it surfaced during the course of the investigation that the woman’s son was mentally challenged. They said that doctors treating him in the city were contacted and it surfaced that he had stopped taking his medication a few days back.
“He was under constant medical supervision for the last 16-17 years. His father, Ashish Sah, a retired senior executive from an IT firm, was in Kolkata for some personal work at the time of the incident. We have contacted him. He is expected to return by Sunday night or Monday after which any further action will be taken,” he said.
Investigators said that the couple’s son was currently with some volunteers and his medication had been restarted on doctor’s advice. They said that the flat was sealed and the body was kept at a mortuary and an autopsy would be carried out after the deceased woman’s husband returned.
.