Boy ‘tries to copy TV show’, sets self on fire

A 12-year-old boy allegedly set himself afire after watching a cartoon film on television and later succumbed to his burns. Police have registered a case.

A 12-year-old boy succumbed to burn injuries on Friday after he set himself afire, allegedly trying to imitate a stunt in a reality show on TV in the old city of Hyderabad.

According to the police, Madugula Jayadeep, studying in Class 5 at a private school, had been staying with his maternal grandparents at the adjacent Venkatapuram colony, while his parents lived in Ziaguda area.

“On Thursday, the boy was watching a programme on television. While the grandparents were busy with their respective activities, the boy suddenly went upstairs with a bottle of kerosene. He doused himself with the fuel and set himself ablaze, shouting that he could do exactly like the character in the television show,” Balapur sub-inspector of police Mucharla Sudhakar told Hindustan Times.

On listening to his screams, the grandmother rushed upstairs and put out the flames. The couple informed his father Mahipal Reddy and rushed the boy to a nearby hospital with 40% burn injuries.

He succumbed to the burns on Friday evening. “Following a complaint from Mahipal Reddy, we registered a case as suspicious death,” the sub-inspector said.

While the grandparents told police that the boy was watching a cartoon show, the police suspect it could be a reality show showing some dangerous stunts the boy may have tried to imitate. “We don’t think there is any cartoon show in which characters set themselves ablaze,” Sudhakar said.