Kolkata, 21 January (H.S.): An elderly woman died after being burned in a fire while sleeping in her room in the B-5, Prince Anwar Shah Lane area under Garden Reach police station in South Kolkata. The deceased has been identified as Lakshmi Devi (66).

As per information, the incident occurred late at night on Tuesday. The deceased woman's son noticed flames rising from his mother's room around midnight. He immediately rushed to the room and pulled Lakshmi Devi out in a severely burned condition. The police were informed of the incident.

Garden Reach police have sent the woman's body for post-mortem and have registered a case of unnatural death, initiating an investigation.

Kolkata Police DC (Port) Harikrishna Pai said that the entire matter is being investigated. According to police sources, Lakshmi Devi lived with her entire family in a house with a tin roof. After dinner on Tuesday night, all the family members went to sleep. Lakshmi Devi was sleeping alone in her room, while her son was in a nearby room.

According to the family, around 2 AM, Lakshmi Devi's son noticed the glow of fire and smelled burning from between the tin roof. Suspecting a fire, other family members also rushed to the room. They found Lakshmi Devi lying inside the room in a burned condition, and the room's contents were on fire. The family members immediately extinguished the fire with water. Neighbors also arrived at the scene after hearing the commotion.

Lakshmi Devi was immediately taken to SSKM Hospital, where doctors declared her dead.

The family claimed that Lakshmi Devi used to burn egg trays inside her room to ward off mosquitoes while sleeping. It is suspected that the fire started from this and spread to the bed, resulting in her being burned while asleep. However, several questions are being raised regarding this incident, as the woman's screams were not heard during the fire, and why the family members in the nearby room were not alerted in time. Garden Reach police have collected samples from the scene and are investigating the exact cause of the fire. The police said that the cause of death will only be clear after the post-mortem report is received. Family members are also being questioned. The police are investigating whether the incident was an accident, a case of negligence, or if there was any other reason behind it.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey