Five burnt as man sets bed on fire

He had lost his job for being an alcoholic. Fed up with his drunken habits, his son and daughter-in-law had shifted to another home. But Tulsiram Pandav, 50, was just not ready to mend his ways.

On Monday night, Pandav, a resident of Sairam chawl at Mharal near Kalyan, returned home drunk. Seeing his state, his wife, Asha, flew into a rage. There was a verbal duel between the couple. Enraged with his wife, Pandav allegedly set the bed on fire.

Asha, their three daughters — Soni, 17, Rani, 15, and Kiran, 13 — and niece Kavita Aher, 13, were sleeping on the bed. The fire engulfed all five, and Pandav fled the room.

Hearing the victim’s cries for help, Pandav’s son, Rajesh, came rushing from the nearby tenement he had shifted to with his wife.

He managed to douse the flames and rescue the five victims. He then called for an ambulance and took them to a hospital.
Their condition being critical — all having sustained 65% to 80% burn injuries — they were shifted to Sion Hospital. The Kalyan Taluka police lodged a case against Pandav on Tuesday.