Infant burnt alive in Uttarakhand’s Nainital district as hut catches fire
Police said the father of the children was out a work driving a truck while the mother had gone out to fetch water.
In a tragic incident, a six-month-old baby was allegedly burnt alive after the family’s makeshift hut caught fire on Tuesday in Nainital district, police said.
According to police, the baby was sleeping inside the hut with his four-year-old sister in Bhawanipur village of Ramnagar area while both their parents were out of the house. While the older girl managed to escape, the baby was burnt alive.
Ravi Saini, station house officer, Ramnagar police station said, “At the time of the incident, the boy’s father who works at a mining site as a truck driver was at work while his mother had gone out to fetch drinking water. Only he and his sister were present inside the makeshift hut which caught fire likely due to a beedi or a lantern.”
Saini said, “When the hut caught fire, the girl managed to come out. A neighbour informed police which then informed the fire tenders. Both rushed to the spot to douse the fire. By the time the fire was doused, the boy was charred to death.”
“After receiving the body, police sent it for post mortem examination at the nearby hospital. We are investigating the matter,” teh officer said.
In a similar incident in April last year, a 15-day-old infant died in Halduchaur area in Nainital district. The incident occurred when the child’s mother lit an earther stove and went out to fetch water leaving her three children inside the hut at that time. When the hut caught fire, two older children escaped, while the infant was left behind and was charred to death.
The labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand come to work in the mining sector in Kumaon, often mkae temporary huts near their work areas.
