Visakhapatnam: Upset over not getting suitable alliance, man sets mom, bro on fire

Visakhapatnam: Upset with his family for not having been able to arrange for a suitable alliance for him, V. Srinu, a 30-year-old alcoholic, set his younger brother and his 50-year-old mother ablaze.

The incident took place on Thursday night at Chadurumamidi, within the limits of G. Madugula Police Station, in Vizag Agency. Srinu’s younger brother V. Chantibabu had recently gotten engaged.

Srinu started the fire when the victims were asleep. When his father V. Pothu Raju tried to stop him, he hit him with a stick. Chittamma and Chantibabu suffered serious burns and had to wait for hours until the arrival of an ambulance.

Chadurumamidi is a remote hamlet with no landline telephone facilities. Cellular services are also limited as the village is a hotbed for red rebels. People from the village had to trek to G. Madugula Police Station on Friday morning to report the incident. The police then sent an ambulance to take the victims to Paderu Area Hospital.

K. Srinivas, the sub-inspector of G. Madugula Police Station, said that Srinu had not been getting any alliances due to his drinking problem. He had been harassing his parents to arrange his marriage. His brother had recently got engaged to a girl from the same village, and this had made Srinu even more upset.

On Thursday, Srinu came home inebriated and picked an argument about his marriage with his mother.

Chittamma told him that he would have to give up drinking and change his behaviour if he wanted to get married. Later that night, when the family was asleep, doused his mother and brother with kerosene. The smell of the kerosene woke his father Pothu Raju who tried to prevent him from lighting a flame. Srinu hit his father with a stick and pushed him away before setting the other two ablaze.

The police have registered a case and also launched a hunt for the accused.