BENGALURU: A man poured petrol on himself and his family members, who were sleeping, and set all on fire over a family dispute in Cottonpet police limits early on Monday morning. The man and his two children, one a graduate and the other studying in ninth standard, died, while his wife is battling for life.
Murali (43), a resident Bakshi Garden, his daughter Kaveri (21), a BCom graduate, and Srikanth (13) died in the fire. Murali’s wife Geetha, a flower-seller, sustained severe injuries and her condition is said to be critical.
Karthik, another son of Murali, escaped as he was sleeping at a relative’s place.
The police said that Murali, a carpenter, was an alcoholic and harassed Geetha for money to drink. As she kept refusing, differences between the couple grew.
On Sunday night too, he came home drunk and demanded money from Geetha. When she refused, he got into a bitter fight and left home in a huff. He returned later with the intention of killing all his family members and brought petrol with him.
He poured petrol all over the house and on family members, who were fast asleep early in the morning. Before the family members could realise what was happening and prevent the incident, Murali had set them on fire.
Geetha and two children tried to escape but the fire engulfed them fast.
Murali too got trapped in the fire. Noticing the commotion and smoke coming from the house, neighbours rushed to the spot and managed to contain the fire.
They pulled out all the family members from the fire and shifted them to Victoria Hospital.
Kaveri and Srikanth succumbed to their injuries, while Murali died after giving a statement to the police. He admitted that he set everyone on fire as he was upset with his wife.
Murali married Geetha 22 years ago. Kaveri, who had completed BCom, was searching for a job.
Murali was increasingly becoming dependent on alcohol and had stopped going to work.
