Fire kills family of 6 in Delhi, mother suspect

A family of six was burnt to death in southeast Delhi’s Zakir Nagar on Thursday after a 30-year-old woman allegedly set her husband and four children on fire before immolating herself.

A family of six was burnt to death in southeast Delhi’s Zakir Nagar on Thursday after a 30-year-old woman allegedly set her husband and four children on fire before immolating herself.

The fire broke out at 1:30 am on Thursday on the second floor of a residential building where Feroz Alam, a factory-owner, lived with his wife Yasmin and their children. After neighbours raised an alarm, Alam was rushed to Safdarjung hospital in a critical condition and succumbed to his injuries soon after.

“In his dying declaration, Alam said he woke up sensing extreme heat in the room and saw his children screaming in pain and his wife lying unconscious near the door. He smelt kerosene in the room and said it had probably been poured on him,” a senior police officer said.

Initial investigations revealed that Yasmin had a prolonged tooth pain that drove her to depression. Both Alam’s statement and forensic examination of the spot indicated that while the rest of the family was in bed, Yasmin was guarding the door of the room that was locked from inside, the police said.

The neighbours too suspected suicide but were unsure of the reason behind the crime. “Yasmin was in depression because of the complications during the treatment of her tooth problem. She had returned hours before the incident from her doctor,” said Mohammad, a resident of same locality.

The family, originally from Vaishali in Bihar, had been living in a one-room rented flat for the last five years. The eldest daughter of the family, Afrin, was 12-years-old and the youngest Aamir was four. Alam, 35, owned a factory that manufactured embroidery machines while Yasmin was a housewife.