Man arrested for setting father on fire in Royapettah

The deceased E Shankar of Nayar Varadha Pillai Street was a vegetable vendor. Around 1.30 am on Saturday, neighbours stepped out hearing his cries and saw him engulfed in fire in his housing board apartment. They douzed the fire and rushed him to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, but he died on Saturday afternoon with 90 per cent burns.

Shankar’s third son, Vijay, initially accused his elder brothers Ramachandran and Ramakrishnan for setting their father on fire as there was a fight between them on Friday night. They were treated for injuries at Government Royapettah Hosptial and sent back home around 11.30 pm.

While police initially thought it was a case of suicide since there was no evidence implicating Ramachandan and Ramakrishnan, further grilling of the brothers revealed that it was Ramakrishnan who set Shankar on fire when Shankarwas sleeping.

Police said that Shankar started living with another woman in the same house within a year since his wife passed away and it angered Ramachandran and Ramakrishnan. While they vacated the house and started living on the pavement, Vijay alone stayed with Shankar.

Ramachandan and Ramakrishnan often quarrelled with their father for his behaviour and on Friday night, too, a fight broke out between them. Around 1.30 am on Saturday, Ramakrishnan reached the house with a can of petrol and poured it on Shankar, who was asleep keeping the door open, and escaped after setting him on fire, said police. Ramakrishnan (28) was arrested on charges of murder and remanded in judicial custody.