JOIN USA 78-year-old widow and her daughter were charred to death after they were caught in a blaze which erupted at their two-storey house in west Delhi’s Mansarovar Garden on Tuesday afternoon.
The victims are identified as Swaran Kaur and her 53-year-old daughter, Balbir. “The women were on the first storey when the blaze, which was probably triggered by a short circuit, erupted on the floor above them. A neighbour, who realised that a fire had broken out when the mother and daughter started screaming for help, informed us,” a Delhi Fire Service (DFS) officer said.
The officer said two fire tenders were able to douse the blaze in half an hour. Charred bodies of the mother and daughter were found after examining the area.
Swaran, mother of six, was staying in the house which has two rooms on the ground floor and a single room on the first. Her sons Devender and Dayal both work as help at the neighbourhood Gurudwara also stayed with her.
“According to their neighbours, Balbir was somewhat mentally-challenged. It is quite possible that the mother and daughter couldn’t escape on time given that fact,” a police officer said.
Both her sons were away when the fire broke out. Swaran has three other daughters – all of whom are married and stay in different parts of Delhi. The exact reason for the fire is yet to be ascertained.