Elderly couple charred to death as disturbed son ‘sets house ablaze’ Family sought help, but parents did not want son harmed
SHOCKING Surviving tenant says the couple’s son was ‘aggressive and abusive’
NEWDELHI: An elderly couple was charred to death and their tenant injured in a fire at their home, allegedly triggered by their son, in west Delhi’s Moti Nagar early Friday, police said.
The tenant told the police that the elderly couple — 70-year-old Chedi Lal and his wife, Lakshmi, 63 — in their last moments said that the house was set on fire by their 40-year-old son, Santosh Gupta, who is untraceable.
Police said the missing son is the “prime suspect” in the blaze. “It would be premature to call it a murder. It could be a mischief or threat gone out of control. We will have clarity on the circumstances of the fire after we arrest and interrogate the couple’s son,” said Vijay Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (west).
But when HT visited the house on Friday, the tenant alleged the couple’s absconding son was a drug addict who was often “aggressive and abusive” towards his parents.
The officer said a case under Indian Penal Code sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 436 (mischief by fire with intent to destroy house) had been registered.
HE WENT BACK TO RESCUE HIS WIFE
A month ago, the family had gathered to convince Gupta to seek medical treatment... He threatened to lock the house and burn us all. BABLI GUPTA, sister-in-law of accused Santosh Gupta
The house caught fire around 3 am when everybody was asleep. The door dividing the house owners and tenants is usually locked on the tenants’ side. “I woke up to cries for help from my landlady. When I tried to open my door, I found it locked from outside. The landlady was shouting, saying her son had set them ablaze,” said tenant Vinay.
“When I came out of the burning house, I found Santosh running away. I tried to call him out, but he ran,” Vinay alleged.
At the burning home, Chedi Lal was able to come out initially but found his wife trapped inside and went back. “I saw Lal returning to his home to rescue his wife, who is diabetic and moves with help. But Lal was unable to escape again because of an explosion in the refrigerator’s compressor,” said Asma Khatoon, a neighbour.
The fire tenders were delayed by 15 minutes because of the narrow streets and haphazard parking, a fire department official said. “By the time the fire fighters reached the spot, the couple was already dead. Their bodies were found a feet from each other,” said an investigator.
PSYCHIATRIC ISSUES
The couple owned a flat in a multi-storey building in Sudershan Park in Moti Nagar and rented out a portion.
They had nine children. Locals said that over the past 12 years, the couple had lost four children – three sons and one daughter. Of them, three died natural deaths and one son was murdered.
Of the five surviving children – three sons and two daughters — four live with their families elsewhere in the city.
The couple lived with Santosh, who was under medication for psychiatric issues, the DCP said.
According to family and local residents, Santosh did not work. “He would often beat my parents if they questioned him or refused to give money for drugs. Because of his demand, my parents ran a snacks cart despite their age,” said Santosh’s brother, Pritam. NEW DELHI: From calling the police to seeking help from local ‘goons’, the Gupta family tried everything to “straighten” the 40-year-old Santosh Gupta, 40, who had been allegedly abusing and assaulting his elderly parents.
But his parents’ “love and tolerance” for him ensured he continued to have his abusive way, a family member said.
The couple was charred to death at their home in west Delhi’s Moti Nagar on Friday in a fire allegedly triggered by Santosh.
Vijay Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (west), said Santosh is the prime suspect, but pointed out that it was unclear if it was murder or a “mischief” that went wrong.
Family and neighbours said Gupta had been displaying “erratic behaviour” for years, forcing his other four siblings to find other homes.
“Gupta was into all kinds of drugs. He is unmarried and has always been unemployed. He depended on my parents for money and would beat them if they ever refused,” said his brother Pritam.
Gupta had turned more “aggressive and violent” over the past month, the family said. “A month ago, the entire family had gathered to convince Gupta to seek medical treatment as he had stopped taking his medicines. He threatened to lock the house and burn us all,” alleged his sister-in-law Babli Gupta.
A week ago, Gupta had allegedly pushed his father out the door after a quarrel. “His father would have died had I not held on to him in the nick of time,” said Harsh Chopra, a neighbour. “Two-three days ago, he had held his mother at knifepoint in the street to take R 300 from her,” claimed Bunty Dhingra, another neighbour.
The family said they were compelled to call the police on a few occasions. “But my parents would forgive him saying he was mentally unwell and needed extra care. The police would advice us to settle the matter within family,” said Pritam.
“We even planned to get local goons to stop him, but our parents stopped us. Now they have paid the price with their lives,” Pritam.
Locals said Gupta would often perform stunts with petrol and diesel and set random objects on fire in the neighbourhood. At other times, he would leave home for days and return to say he was in Rishikesh and Haridwar.