Woman sets mother ablaze in TN

Devanathan Veerappan| TNN | Nov 5, 2017, 21:15 IST

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MADURAI: A 45-year-old woman was hospitalised with serious burn injuries after her daughter allegedly set her ablaze, apparently angry over her mother's resistance to her love affair.

Police have arrested S Karpagajothi, 21, of Vettaiperumal Kovil Street, Rajapalayam town, in Virudhunagar district in this connection. Her mother, S Packialakshmi, is being treated at the Sivakasigovernment hospital.

Karpagajothi was allegedly having a romantic relationship with her colleague working in a spinning mill, and Packialakshmi was not happy with the affair.

Police said she asked Karpagajothi to end their relationship immediately and reprimanded her when she refused to do so. There were constant flare ups between the two after Karpagajothi failed to budge an inch despite her mother's repeated pleas to ditch the man she was in love with, the police said.

Irked by this stiff resistance and scolding, Karpagajothi decided to kill her mother and continue the relationship with her colleague.

On Saturday, she doused Packialakshmi with kerosene and set her ablaze while she was asleep. As the mother screamed for help after being set on fire, neighbours rushed into the house and rescued Packialakshmi. She sustained burns on her face and chest and was immediately taken to a nearby hospital.

She was then shifted to Sivakasi Government Hospital which has better facilities to treat patients with burns.

The Rajapalayam South police received a complaint from the mother and registered a case.

Karpagajothi was produced before a judicial magistrate and remanded in judicial custody. Karpagajothi has been living with her mother ever since her father Sundaramahalingam deserted the family.

The accused had completed schooling and had been working in a spinning mill in the same locality.