Four members of a family burnt alive in Bhimavaram

Four members of a family were reportedly burnt alive when they were sleeping in their house at Kovvada Annavaram under Bhimavaram rural police limits in the wee hours of Sunday. Neighbours found the charred bodies in the house and informed the police about the incident.

The victims have been identified as Marapatla Prakash (56), a Gulf agent, his wife Rajamani (45), an anganwadi worker, and their two sons, Devaraju, a first year Intermediate student, and Vamsi, a Class-VI student.  

According to Superintendent of Police K. Raghuram Reddy, who visited the scene of crime, the assailants were suspected to have confined the victims in their house by locking the doors from outside, doused the premises with patrol before setting it on fire. All the victims were found dead in the bedroom even as the roof was reduced to ashes.

The SP told

The Hindu that the dispute between Prakash and his son-in-law Ravi was suspected to be the motive behind the incident. Preliminary inquiries revealed that Ravi was seen buying 20 litres of petrol from a refilling station nearby the village on Saturday evening.

He was reportedly absconding after the incident, lending credence to the suspicions. Ravi married Prakash’s daughter against his wishes which might have led to the disputes between the duo. Later, Prakash was said to have sent away his daughter to the Middle East countries for employment without the knowledge of his son-in-law, the SP explained.