Three children burnt alive in Meerut

12-year-old Gulfisha, eight-year-old Afsa and five-year-old Sumile were yesterday preparing food when the house caught fire, police said, adding their parents were not present at the house at the time of the accident.

The incident came to light when the neighbours noticed smoke emerging from the house and broke open the door to enter into the house. They saw three burnt bodies of the children, they said.

Neighbours claimed that since there was no electricity connection in the house, the children were preparing food with the help of candles following which fire broke out in the thatched house.

Enraged over the incident, the locals placed the bodies on the road and demanded compensation from the Uttar Pradesh government. The villagers were later pacified by senior officers.