Karnataka: 7-year-old sets herself ablaze to copy 'fire dance' from TV serial, dies

In a shocking incident, a 7-year-old girl set herself ablaze to 'copy' a scene from her favourite TV serial in north Karnatka.

According to a Times of India report, the victim, who has been identified as Prarthana succumbed to her injuries on November 12. The incident came to light after the victim's parents filed a police complaint on Wednesday.

The girl, a resident of Davanagere district's Harihara town, was huge fan of two Kannada TV serials.

Her mother told the Times of India that Prarthana particularly loved the horror serial. On the fateful day, the victim tried to copy a fire dance scene from the serial. She spread pieces of paper around her and set them on fire, without realising danger to her life.

Soon, the fire went out of control and the girl suffered burn injuries. She was taken to a private hospital on November 11. The victim died a day later.

Chaitra, victim's mother, said that she had warned her daughter to ot watch so much TV. The grieving mother, who lost her eldest child, requested all parents to make sure that their children don't watch so much of TV.

Young children aping their favourite serials is not new. In 1999, Shaktiman, a very popular super-hero serial, was taken off air. It was alleged that many children were dying in attempt to copy the stunts of protagonist played by actor Mukesh Khanna.