Woman, set on fire by brother-in-law, dead in Trivandrum

A 48-year-old woman, who was allegedly set on fire after being doused with kerosene by her brother-in-law on Wednesday, succumbed to her injuries at the Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Thiruvananthapuram, on Thursday.

According to the police, the woman, Thilakam of Aaralummoodu near Neyyattinkara, had said in her statement to a magistrate from the hospital bed that it was her brother-in-law Thankappan, 58, who had doused her with kerosene before setting her on fire around 9 a.m. on Wednesday.

80 per cent burns

She was rushed to a private hospital and then to the Neyyattinkara General Hospital before being shifted to the MCH, where she died with about 80 per cent burns.

Police said Thankappan, a divorcee and the elder brother of Thilakam’s husband Subramanian, was staying with the couple for the past several years and the brothers, after getting drunk, used to pick up quarrels with her regularly. Thilakam had reportedly expressed her displeasure at Thankappan making her husband consume alcohol, but Subramanian refused to heed to her complaints.

On Wednesday, the argument picked up from where it stopped the previous night and Thankappan is said to have doused Thilakam with kerosene before setting her on fire. Neighbours rushed in hearing her cries, doused the fire, and took her to hospital. The police suspect that Subramanian too could have been part of the attack and are interrogating both the men.

The couple has a son, Senthil, and a daughter, Soumya. The Neyyattinkara police have registered a case and are investigating.