Woman & son die, husband hurt as house 'set ablaze' in West Bengal

BOLPUR: A woman and her child were killed and her husband is battling for life after a fire razed their Bolpur home early on Friday. Family members claimed kerosene had been thrown in through the window and the house set on fire.

Rupa Bibi (30), Ayan Sheikh (4) and Sheikh Tuta (40) were sleeping when the blaze engulfed their house in Raipur Supur village. Sheikh Raj, Rupa's elder son, was sleeping in the next room when he heard screams around 1.30am. "I rushed in and saw my mother and father running around in the fire. The room smelled of kerosene. I couldn't do anything," he said. The three were taken to Bolpur sub-district hospital and then shifted to Burdwan Medical College and Hospital after their condition deteriorated. Rupa and Ayan succumbed to their injuries. Tuta's condition continues to remain critical.

Police have lodged unnatural death cases and begun an investigation.