A 28-year-old unemployed man doused his mother with petrol and set her on fire after she refused to give him money for alcohol. The woman is battling for life after sustaining burns on her hand, abdomen and the chest, police said.
Police have booked the man, identified as Uttham, for attempted murder and launched a manhunt for him as he has gone absconding.
The shocking incident occurred in Ashwathnagar, Sadashivanagar, in northern Bengaluru on December 6. Uttham had asked his mother, Bharathi, for money but she refused, fearing he would buy liquor. The son got enraged, brought petrol and doused his mother in it. He then set her on fire and ran away from home. The woman’s husband, who was at home, rushed to her help and took her to a private hospital. The woman was later admitted to the burns ward at the state-run Victoria Hospital.
The shocking incident comes just a day after police booked a boy for beating his mother with a broomstick for scolding him over his bad habits. A video of that incident, shot by a neighbour and uploaded to social media, had gone viral and prompted the police to open a case on their own under IPC sections 354 (acts outraging the modesty of a woman) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) read with section 4 of the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA). The boy has been referred to the NGO Bosco Mane for counselling.
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