In a tragic incident a man, wife, and two daughters were burnt to death after the man’s father set the house on fire in Kerala's Cheenikuzhy in Idukki in the wee hours of March 19, Saturday. The deceased have been identified as Muhammed Faizal alias Shibu (49), his wife Sheeba (39), daughters Mehru (16) and Asna (13). Faizal used to run a stationery shop. He also used to sell petrol and diesel in small quantities.
According to the Karimannoor police, Hameed (79), the father of Faizal of Aliyakkunnel in Cheenikuzhy, set the house on fire and locked the doors from outside presumably for not allowing those inside to escape. The neighbourhood came to know about the deaths after one of the children called a neighbour, Rahul, after seeing fire in the room which was locked from outside. When he reached the spot the fire had spread to the door of the room and the water tank was empty. The police booked Hameed and his arrest will be recorded soon.
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According to a senior police official, the family dispute is suspected to be the motive behind the crime. There had been a long-standing dispute between Hameed and Faizal over the property share given to Faizal. The police said that Hameed wanted the share back, which Faizal refused. According to sources, the Faizal had also lodged a complaint at the Karimannor police station stating that the father threatened to kill him. Then the police called both the parties to reach a compromise. The crime happened when the construction of a new house Faizal was building was on the final phase and he was planning to shift there at the earliest.
"On Friday morning, Hameed quarreled with his family members and threw away the lunch given by Faizal. It’s assumed that the accused was predetermined about committing the crime and he carried out it around 12 am,” the police official said.
“It seemed like the accused wanted to make sure that they all were dead for he threw away five bottles filled with petrol into the room while throwing another bottle through the window to set the house ablaze. Then he locked the door of the room and waited in the living room. He threw more petrol bottles after setting the room on fire. The accused ensured the water tank was empty and disrupted the water connection of the neighbour as well, presumably to make sure that no one would douse the fire," said the official.
Faizal and their family moved to the toilet and collected water from the bathroom to douse the fire but the taps had gone dry.