In a horrific incident, a house was bolted from the outside, sprinkled with kerosene and set on fire, even as the family was trapped inside. A 6-year-old child succumbed to burn injuries, but other members of the family survived, after neighbours, hearing their screams for help, rescued them.
The incident occurred in the early hours of September 5 at Goreguntepalya in the RMC Yard Police Station limits. The boy identified as M Prajwal died a day after the incident. He is survived by his parents, 38-year-old Mahesh and 25-year-old Jyothi, and his sister, 2-year-old Ankitha.
Mahesh runs a mobile shop in Goreguntepalya and said to have returned home on Tuesday night at around 8.30 pm. The family went to sleep around 11.30pm, and the perpetrator is believed to have entered the building during the night, as per Bangalore Mirror
Police officers are investigating the case said a plastic container, used to carry the kerosene, was found outside the home, and the door was latched from the outside with an iron wire.
The perpetrator has not yet been identified. "The victims have stated that the house was bolted and lit on fire after kerosene was poured on it. The family has mentioned a relative who they think could be behind this crime and he is absconding since the incident," confirmed police officials at RMC Yard Police Station.
The family members, all of whom sustained burn injuries, were admitted to Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru. "The boy came in with serious burn injuries and he passed away the day after he was brought in. Jyoti also had suffered 20% burns. She is about to be discharged while other family members have already been discharged," said KT Ramesh, a doctor at Victoria Hospital's Burn Ward.
