Police have booked a man for allegedly attempting to murder his 10-year-old stepdaughter.
The police said G. Suja, 33, a mother of three children from Periyavilai in Kanniyakumari district, married Jesu Antony Raj of the same area eight years ago after her husband Gurunathan died. Antony Raj and Suja settled down at Kavalkinaru in Tirunelveli district and worked in a hotel there.
Ms. Suja’s 10-year-old daughter, who came to the hotel on Wednesday, took a biscuit packet, but did not payfor it. The hotel owner shouted at Antony Raj. After returning home in the night, Antony Raj poured kerosene on the three children and allegedly set them on fire.
Hearing the screams of the children, neighbours rushed in and doused the flames. They took the badly injured 10-year-old girl to Asaripallam Government Medical College Hospital, where Antony Raj was also admitted with minor injuries.
Panagudi police have registered a case.
