BENGALURU: In a gruesome incident, a 22-year-old woman committed suicide after setting her two children on fire at her residence in Sanjaya Nagar in HAL on Thursday morning.
Police said the deceased has been identified as Ramalamma, a domestic help. She was residing in a rented house along with her husband Mahendra, a labourer, son Dashvantha, 4 and daughter Hasini, 2. They hail from Andhra Pradesh and moved to the city a few years ago.
On Thursday, around 9.15 am, Mahendra left for work while Ramalamma along with her children stayed at home. She also told Dashavantha, who is studying in kindergarten, not to attend school, police said.
Later while the children were playing outside, Ramalamma called them and locked the door. She doused them with kerosene and set them ablaze. She also poured kerosene over her and set herself on fire.
The passersby and neighbours found smoke emanating from the house and raised an alarm. They tried to break open the door, but it was locked from inside, the police added.
They alerted the HAL police, who rushed to the spot, broke open the door and doused the fire. They shifted the trio to Bowring Hospital, where they were declared dead, police said.
A senior police officer said, “Preliminary investigations revealed that Ramalamma was mentally disturbed due to personal reasons and was undergoing treatment at Nimhans hospital. But we are yet to ascertain the reason for suicide.”
The police would question her relatives and family members, who are on their way to the city, the officer added. HAL police have registered a case.
