Teen sets self ablaze after tiff with sister, dies

MUMBAI: An 18-year-old girl-who set herself ablaze at her house in Malad (W) after a squabble with her elder sister-died on Friday evening, allegedly after she was refused admission to Bhagwati Hospital and was shunted to another hospital.
According to the police, the incident took place on Thursday evening. The deceased, Sheba Muttu, was at home with her siblings.Following an argument with her elder sister over washing of dishes, Sheba went into another room, doused herself with kerosene and and set herself on fire. Her father and neighbours then took her to Bhagwati Hospital.
The girl's father, Tarangan Muttu, alleged that doctors did not admit her despite it being evident that she was burnt from head to toe. "I literally begged them to admit her, but they said the patient would have to be shifted to Cooper Hospital for treatment,'' he said.
The girl, who was in acute pain at that time, was again put in an ambulance and taken to Cooper Hospital. "But it took us almost one-and-a-half hours to reach Cooper Hospital because of traffic jams. We had to even jump a few signals,'' he said.
Sheba was admitted to the hospital but died after some time; the cause of death was given as "95-100% superficial to deep burns''.
Medical superintendent of Bhagwati Hospital M Wadiwala said he was not aware of this particular case but insisted all patients were admitted. "We have a proper burns ward for such patients and I am not sure why this particular patient was not admitted,'' he said.
He assured that he would make inquiries and find out the reason for the situation.
Taranagan said his daughter later told him that she only wanted to frighten her family members and that was why she tried to burn herself.
rajiv.sharma@timesgroup.com