Hyderabad: Unidentified persons tried to set ablaze a house in Medak early on Thursday to burn alive the family sleeping inside.
The suspects threw kerosene through the open windows and lit the fire. In the blaze that followed, the family, a couple and three children, suffered severe burns.
The victims are J. Sunkaiah, a resident of Bollaram village, his wife Sunitha and three children Veeranna, 5, Krish, 3, and Daniel, 1. Mr Sunkaiah rears pigs, while Sunitha is a housewife.
Police sources said that at around 2 am on Thursday, two unidentified persons threw bottles of kerosene into the house and lit a fire. “When they tried to open the doors, they found it to be locked from outside and they got stuck inside,” said Bolarum sub-inspector Prashantha.
Hearing their shouts, neighbours rushed to the rescue. But by then all of them suffered serious burns of up to 60 per cent. They were rushed to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad.
Mr Sunkaiah’s condition is said to be critical, while Ms Sunitha and the children are recovering.
