Fire destroys family’s house, husband taken into custody
Afamily dispute allegedly led to a house fire along Emily Road in Siberia, Labasa.
Urmila Devi was in shock when she got out of a taxi around 2:45pm on Tuesday in front of the house.
The 63-year-old woman was in tears when she said she left the house early in the morning to attend their court case at Magistrate Court in Labasa.
The mother of four children alleged that before and after the case, husband Ami Chand threatened to set the house on fire.
“I didn’t take it seriously because he used to say the same things last year so I only informed my children,” Ms Devi said.
“I was living in this house with my Year Eight granddaughter who was away at Saint Mary’s Primary School.”
The unemployed wife said they had been living in this three bedroom house for seven years while her husband was trav- elling regularly to Suva as they were having numerous problems.
Attempts to contact Mr Chand were unsuccessful.
Police spokesperson Wame Bautolu confirmed that Mr Chand was charged for breaching the Domestic Violence Restraining Order and was produced at Magistrate Court in Labasa yesterday. He said the accused has been further remanded and would be interviewed later over the house fire.
National Fire Authority’s firefighters were at the scene for more than two hours to completely put off the fire.